david goodfellow

July 19, 2011

Thanks for all the comments. Its clear rare pork is not to most peoples taste, on this forum at the least.

My question is this. Who, if any of you would have actually sent it back? Bear in mind of course that we thought the flavour to be rather good. That was clearly down to sourcing.

Richard, your a chef, would you subject the kitchen to grief.

The lamb was poor taste wise, tender but vapid. The belly was piss poor (we left it uneaten) and I made the point to our waitress and also commented on the seasoning. She returned with apologies from the chef.

Would you have sent that back?

We did in fairness eat most of it, at least my wife did, as it was her dish.

Tim, I,ve not been to Spain for some years, interesting how they eat their pork there. As you touched on, and I'm glad you reported to have been, consistancy could be the problem as the chefs rotate, according to our waitress.

July 19, 2011

When I read that Portugeezer chef Nuno Mendes had opened a more user friendly, (think casual and easier on the wallet) eatery, above Viajante in the old Town Hall building in Bethnal Green, I just had to give it a whirl.

I am an unashamed fan of Mendes, and along with others I tipped him for big things, and Michelin awarded him a star within the first year of opening. However having said that he is not without his critics.

So, we entered through the Viajante doors to reception, only to be guided down a very long corridor. We could feel the buzz from a rather full Viajante and I was slightly disappointed to be eating at the opposite end of the building. " Is Nuno in today?" I enquired. " No, he's not "

Up some delightful stairs, past another kitchen, into the dining room proper. What strikes you immediately is the hanging industrial style lights and how bright the room is.

We chose a sticky table in the corner. Of course this was also the "rocky table". Now we have not had a rocky table for some good while, so it did have some amusement value, especially when our willing waitress dropped down on her knees to try to correct the problem. This created much amusement from some of the surrounding tables. Thank goodness I was with the wife, it all looked a bit, well I don't know, but it caused a few giggles.

The menu we were presented with was rather limited and not the menu which was e-mailed to me a couple of days before, and I was assured that this would be the menu on the day. Today's menu was limited as it was a brunch menu until 3 o clock when the dinner menu would kick in. Why was this not explained at the time of my enquiry?

By way of explanation, they do not accept bookings, there is no website, so you have to get information through the Viajante phone lines with regard to opening times, menus, etc.

Mackerel with melon and rhubarb granita (£7) was not well received by my wife, who expected it to be cooked to extract more flavour from the fish. I thought it to be fine and in any event fairly typical of Mendes's interpretation. I rather liked the addition of pine nuts and the little slivers of mild onion.

Hansen and Lyderson smoked salmon & scrambled eggs (£8) As good a brunch dish that you could get. Super tasty salmon and just set wobbly egg, whats not to like? A rather generous portion too. The brioche that was served with it, we both fealt was too sweet for the dish.

Pork and Portugese bread pudding (£12) arrived at the table looking scarily rare. I suspect a few would send this dish back, but not us. Amazingly tender but in need of some seasoning we both enjoyed not only the pork but the sweet red peppered bread pudding. A dish I would happily eat again.

Looking the business on the plate, the Lamb rump and belly with "true baby" vegetables, (£12) was a failure in the mouth. Tasteless lamb, yes seriously lacking, and again devoid of salt. The lamb belly was pointless. Undercooked and therefore fatty and inedible, (see the photo) it ended up where it belonged, in the bin. Don't ask what the "true baby" veg were, I could not be bothered to ask.

Hackney Wild bread basket (£3) with butter is from the excellent e5 bakehouse and did not arrive on time. We ordered it at the start of the meal but we still had not received it by the time we had finished our starters. So I cancelled it. We were however compted it, so it was gracefully accepted.

Another menu, the dinner menu, was now in place so we chose a dessert from that.

Eating better than perhaps it looked the Caramelised fennel, pineapple and smoked pastry (£5) was just about worth its price tag.

I will allow the chef some artistic licence in his description of the next dish Chocolate brownie with fresh berries & creme catalan (£5) The "berries" plural, were one and a half strawberries. Where were the raspberries, tay berries, loganberries, blackberries even? The brownie was cake ("let them eat it") two slices of it. Not the squidgy, gooey thing that we were expecting. Oh and did I mention that it was on the dry side.

We skipped coffee, as we normally do whilst I contemplated a long drive back to the Midlands.

We enquired if Nuno Mendes had any direct input into the kitchen and our rather nervous waitress informed us the he was in charge of four dining operations in the hotel and sometimes popped in to this kitchen, Also that the chefs alternate somewhat. Well can I suggest Sunday's chef spend a bit more time in the Viajante kitchen before he makes a return here.

Service was under pressure early on, and it showed. Not enough staff (two) at lunch, more arrived just before three, to ease that pressure.

A rather hit and miss type of meal really. There is skill, it just lacks refinement. If you live within a reasonable distance its worth a try, just don't cross London, as we did, you will find better closer to home.

Strangely I would return, I think its worth another chance, but my wife would not, she made that plain on the way back in the car. So that's it then. No chance.

July 17, 2011

A whopping nine out of ten from Lisa Markwell in todays Independent

Plus the bloggers are having a lovefest. The vibe coming from twitter is immense.

Brilliant, I love the place, they are evolving all the time and fully deserve all the attention.

July 17, 2011

Thank you Matthew.

You know what they say about curiosity? It nearly killed the cat. Well this pussy risked life and limb for near four hours in torrential rain, on the M6 and M1, in F1 type conditions to satisfy my curiosity. It made for a late and tense arrival.

Did I get the cream? Well you will have to wait for a while as this is a late start for me and I've not even read the newspapers yet.

As a taster, I did take some photos of the venue. So for now, those who are interested can take a peek.

July 14, 2011

Well, those of you that have been following this thread know that Aiden Byrne left here virtually the same week of our only visit. He was not in the kitchen on the day that we dined, but we were most impressed with what was presented on the table by his head chef Stewart Warner, and partner Jenny Thoden. Since then of course the reports above have echoed our feelings. So another visit was much relished.

Firstly we can understand why this spot is so very popular as a wedding venue. Its fabulous and classy, and of course that comes with a price tag. So dad's, lock up your daughter's, because if they ever visit here they will not want to get married elsewhere. So the venue will be more than memorable to both of you for perhaps different reasons.

We chose a tasting menu of sorts, but unusually for tasting menu's we chose on purpose, different dishes off the carte plus a few additions as amuse and pre dessert. Which meant of course alas that we had different dishes, but I really wanted to showcase photo wise what exactly was on offer.

Now then, I have been seduced by many different things in life. Art, wildlife, landscape, the opposite sex, and of course food. And as I get older, food porn is now perhaps top of my list now. I'm a sucker for a pretty plate of food. So I was in my element with this meal.

We started with an amuse of various titbits as follows Deep fried morels, Cod brandade in violet potato crisps, Lemongrass marinated and grilled shrimp, fennel gazpacho, and a selection of nuts, popcorn and potato chips. (phew)

Bread was excellent, with a choice of three. Plain white, a black olive tapenade, and a seeded. Some unsalted butter to the front with sea salt if you wish to add.

First up proper was a silky smooth Foie gras terrine with gooseberry and sweet wine.

An excellent summers soup next Langoustine, cucumber, creme fraiche, and caviar. Oh, and did I mention dill mousse?

Roasted and marinated scallops with confit lemon and radish salad. What a beautiful plate of food. Fresh as a daisy scallops, it ate ever so well.

Sardines, heritage tomato, black olive and nasturtium. The nasturtiums are actually from Stewart's garden at home. Its all held together with a tomato foam, some raw shallot and a crispy onion topping.

We had a fish course next Poached sea bass, baby artichoke, cockles and broad beans.

Meat next and a most welcome pork dish, which I was looking forward to.Middle white pork, grellot onions and fresh almonds.Stewart buys his pork as a whole or half beast and butchers it himself. His supplier provided the pork sausage in the dish which is coated in a grellot onion ash, which gives it a nicely charred flavour. The pink sauce by the way is a peach puree which is made leaving the skins on to gain extra colour.

Another very good looking and very tasty dish Hay baked saddle of rabbit with smoked bacon and butterhead lettuce.

There is lots going on in this dish. Some confit shoulder is in the lettuce. Three little squares of belly are layered with smoked bacon. I seem to think the saddle is stuffed with the liver and kidney. Plus there are three sauces of hay cream, lettuce, and rabbit jus. Yum, Yum.

Its cheese Jim, but not as we know it!

Blacksticks blue, amaretti, poached apricots.

A clever dish this, taking you from savoury to sweet. Note the line of amaretti biscuits. The cheese is coated in amaretti also, and the brown circle is a purree of amaretti. Pure heaven.

Pre dessert nextCaramelised popcorn, popcorn mousse, citrus jelly and sweetcorn panacotta. Wow and double wow.

Desserts next and the food was surprisingly light so we were not struggling, and still had a bit of room left. Remember of course we had different courses each.

carrot cake, cream cheese mousse with raisins and yogurt sorbet.

Summer berry consomme, pistachio and goats cheese sorbet., and dried raspberry crumbs.

Dark chocolate with hazelnuts and redcurrants.The chocolate is actually a layered cake of hazelnut praline smothered in rich chocolate sauce.

Well, what can I say, we simply can't believe how many courses we got through. The pictures surely tell the story of how good this meal was, easily comparable with some of the best we have eaten, and you know we do get about a bit. I have had to be a bit sketchy on the narrative because of the great number of photos and simply because I was enjoying the food so very much I did not take any notes.

We spoke to Stewart and Jenny after the meal to congratulate them on their achievement and it was a joy to meet such a charming and unassuming couple who work their socks off to please their customers.

I definitely must mention the charming Peter Fisher who looked after us admirably, and in my opinion he is head and shoulders above quite a lot of front of house that we have come across. We hope you enjoy looking at the excellent food and can savour some of the pleasure that we had eating it.

Ladies and gentlemen please give it up for a very happy Stewart and Jenny.

Naturally this place is a big, big recommend.

Happy eating.

July 12, 2011

Matthew

I,m glad to have brought the pedant out of you :laugh:

Of course we are in Britain. Good observation gracefully accepted.

With regard to the strawberries. I was expecting something looking other than Elsanta and took the waiter to task. He went back to the kitchen and returned a short while later telling me the chef said they were Marra des Bois a member of the gariguette family. As I am far from an expert I took it at face value.

There is a furthar step in this story. After the meal we ventured over the road to Harrods for a wander around the food halls and buy some bread. And guess what? On sale were some gariguette strawberries looking almost identical to the ones in the review.

I was most relieved.

Bread of Heaven We chose the cholla and olive.

July 12, 2011

So finally to Chabrot, and indeed I have wanted to visit for some time, for more than a couple of reasons. First, one was chef Thierry Labourde, ex Roux, (Le Gavroche) and Ducasse (Louis XV), not a bad pedigree. He is one of the four partners, who include, a wine expert, a celebrity florist, and a well regarded front of house. Looking good then.

In true continental style, befitting any bistro, it does not hurt to see staff standing by the front door. The interior reeks of gallic charm, with the oversize mirror on one wall displaying the formule du jour. Wooden floors, evocative prints, and red and white tablecloths transport you across the English channel.

The menu is thoughtfully both in French and with an English translation. This saves the wait staff and customer having to cover the same tedious ground time and again. Forty seven dishes jostle for attention. These include three house speciality mains to share, plus hot and cold starters, meat, fish and pasta, charcuterie, cheese, desserts, and side dishes. On top of this there are "specials", perhaps three to five most days.

Bread was instantly recognisable as one of the offerings also at Pollen Street Social. A delicious Boulangerie de Paris offering.

Marinated Sardines, white grapes, basil (£6.50)

Crispy baby squid, piment d'espelette (£8.50)

A decent enough start. The lady's "chiparons" were crispy and tasty, quite a decent portion, pleasant but hardly exciting. Same perhaps for the sardines although I found the dressing to be slightly too acidic, the fish having taken on too much of the dressing, although that is perhaps just a personal thing.

From the specials list I ordered a whole Lemon Sole. Well, we waited a not unreasonable amount of time only to be informed that the kitchen had a slight mishap with said dish and would I accept another dish in its place for the same price. Naturally I accepted, as the other dish I was offered was a house speciality at another ten pounds extra. The only downside was they had to prepare the other dish from scratch. To compensate for the wait we were compted two starters from the kitchen, as follows.

Warm Duck liver pate, Compte cheese popovers (£8.50)

Not having ordered the said dish, on first glance, on its way to the table, I thought it was a mini leg of lamb. Much was made of the hand chopped liver by our waiter and truth be told we enjoyed it quite a bit. In between the tiny squares of liver, lay slivers of caper and shallot and tiny flecks of parsley. The cheese gougere is a French classic, in very much the same way as our Yorkshire pudding. I was not however getting much of a cheesy taste from it.

The other dish was a fresh as you like offering of Broad beans, ewes cheese, and olive oil (£7.50)

Strikingly bold in its simplicity, top tasting produce, and with the sun shining brightly outside, it really was very much a dish of the moment.

Wild Sea Bass in a salt crust (£29.50) was served simply with shaved fennel and half a vine leaved lemon.

As nice as the dish was, it needed some other veg to ease the monotony and we had thankfully ordered some Haricot vert and carrots (£3.50 each) to take the taste buds off in another direction. Both veg btw were excellent.

Mrs G made a wise choice with one of the house signiture dishes Choux farci Chabrot (£19). Stuffed cabbage of Veal, chestnuts, foie gras and ceps. oh and some fruit which I can not remember what (because it was not my dish) Perhaps two half mouthfuls was not enough to judge, but I would have most happily ordered this myself.

Feeling the effect of our two compted starters, pudding seemed a bridge too far. However the Fraise Gariguettes, creme Chantilly (£7.50) fitted the bill perfectly, with the fluffy cream and the acidic strawberries.

In for a penny, in for a pound, and why not. A sharing plate of desserts, Gateau de Marie, a soft chocolate cake topped with seseme seeds. Canelle Bordelais, rum and vanilla flavoured cakes. A tiny dish of cherries, and a glass of ? with a prune to nibble on.

Well to sum up.

Chabrot has had mostly very good reviews from the press and blogsphere, and partly because of that I wanted to visit. I freely admit to not being bowled over with everything on offer. That could be perhaps something to do with the fact we had dined at Roganic the day before, or that my expectation level was higher than the kitchen could offer. I also feel some of the dishes are overpriced (seabass £29.50, lamb chops £26.50) for a simple bistro concept. Having said that the plat du jour with its variations of plat with a glass of wine or plat with mini dessert, coffee, are very good value although only available at certain times.

There is a lot of competition in Knightsbridge at the top end, especially for lunchtime eating with bargain pricing. Koffmanns, Bar Boulud immediately spring to mind. Even Heston's Dinner, if you could bag a table. If I lived locally they would be my first choice. Its easy to rack a bill of £100 for two at Chabrot if you dine off the carte even with an entry bottle of wine (£19.50, which was not that pleasant incidently). If we did return we would be judiciously picking our way through the menu, pricing wise, as for a bistro in somewhat simple attire, some of the pricing is out of kilter with the concept.

Give it a try, especially if you are a Francophile. You may be pleasantly surprised. I can think of a great number of worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

July 11, 2011

According to Twitter, a new pricing structure starts tomorrow, with an easy on the pocket introduction to the food at lunch. Three courses for £29,(plus perhaps an amuse and their excellent bread) or 6 for £55. Not sure if the 10 (£80) is still available at lunch, best check with them.

Both the 6 and 10 are on the dinner service.

July 2, 2011

really solid meal, one of the best ones i had in london.
Kenny atkinson was there when i left, talking with simon rogan.
Front of house was absolutely charming, Sandia's other half must be really lucky

Some very good reviews coming through now. It must be especially rewarding for Simon Rogan that loads of top chefs are queueing up to eat his food.

Marcus Wareing and his head chef James Knappet (Sandia Chang's husband btw) were there when we ate

Kenny Atkinson was dining with Michelin heavyweight Daniel Clifford both of whom are on today's Saturday Kitchen.

June 28, 2011

Fabulous photos Alan. Crimes I could eat that all again.

I wish now I had bought the LX5 instead of throwing nearly £500 at my new Nikon which seems not take as good a photo as my S95. However it may be pilot error on my part. I'm still learning.

So what were your favourite dishes?

June 27, 2011

Got a reservation for the 1st of july!
How do you get a reservation? I emailed info@roganics.co.uk last week and did not get a reply.

I booked online without any problem. I know they are very eager for business.

Try This Link and you should be ok.

Just a further note. They are closed today, so there may be a delay in getting back. Plus, as I understand it they do not answer the phone during service, try before 12 and after 3 and before six in the evening.

Hope that helps.

June 27, 2011

I'm always going to be playing catch up on photography, its a recent thing. Although having said that, and I know its blowing my own trumpet a bit, my recent efforts, and especially the above, have turned out great. I'm looking forward to seeing yours, as I don't use photoshop Mine are straight out of the camera, so to speak.

Apart from the amazing food. As you touched on, great service is absolutely paramount at this level, and they delivered. Must make mention of Jon Cannon (even though he supports Liverpool :laugh: ) top guy, knowledgeable, full of enthusiasm, obviously not as pretty as Sandia Chang :laugh: but a valuable member of a very good team.

June 25, 2011

Well for me this is the third biggest opening in our great city this year. Following on from Heston's Dinner and Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social, Simon Rogans Roganic, albeit a minnow in comparison size wise (approx twenty five seats), is destined to be on all of the serious foodies hit lists. The vast number of foodies who find it difficult even to cross the city, nevermind take what they perhaps consider a space shuttle of a journey to Cumbria will be well rewarded.

Heading up the kitchen is Ben Spalding, clearly a highly talented chef, who according to his twitter account is, focused, obssessed, into body art, and supports Arry's Spurs.

If you dine during the day try to bag the seat by the open window, its fascinating to watch the world walk by, (if you can take your eyes off the food that is.)

We started with a tasty little amuse.

There is a choice of five or ten courses. Guess what we chose.

Whipped Gloucester butter with Maldon sea salt is lavishly spread over a large pebble. Bread, a choice of three, Spelt, buttermilk and potato, and pumpernickle is made on site, and is special. The best of which is a pumpernickle.

First course proper was Broad bean and hyssop, (no me neither), fresh curds made from buffalo milk, and beetroot.

Hyssop will be one of a number of items on the menu that will be new to us today.

Rubin turnip baked in salt, smoked yolk, sea vegetables and wild mustard.

This dish had us smiling with its simplicity, its freshness, its vitality.

Next up was Seawater cured Kentish Mackerel, orache, broccoli, and warm elderflower honey.

As pretty as it gets, and it ate as well as it looks. Not sure if this was the orache that is in the dish, but it may give you an insight. The mildly sweet elderflower honey drizzled around the plate was a nice addition.

Shredded ox tongue, pickles, and sourdough paper.

Again little chuckles of delight from across the table, and we still have loads of courses to get through.

Flaky Crab and mallow cream, young squid and cucumber.

Pretty mallow flowers and leaves.

Note the croutons made by adding squid ink

The only dish to make its way from L' enclume menu is the popular Vintage potatoes in onion ashes, lovage and wood sorrel.

Roasted Brill, chicken salt, cockles and ruby chard.

Cracking dish, this. Ever so fresh fish, wee salty cockles, nicely sauced, almost raw ruby chard keeping all of its flavour.

Cumbrian hogget, artichoke and chenopodiums ?

Hogget, artichoke, yes. Chenopodiums? Wow this really is a learning curve today. I'm not a bit out of my depth, but a lot. In the nicest possible way of course.

We had a cheese course next. All in prime condition.

Desserts next,

Sweet ciceley with strawberry, buttermilk and verbena.

Warm spiced bread, salted almonds, buckthorn curd, smoked clotted cream.

Well, what can I say really. I thought it best to let the pictures do the talking as I can not really do the food true justice by my commentary. Its been a while since we have been to L'enclume and hand on heart its easy to forget how good that place can be. I was truly bowled over and enchanted by all of the food that came out of this kitchen and will shout from the rooftops that this is some of the best cooking that you are likely to eat anywhere. London now has a top, top contender to challenge the very best on offer.

We have been lucky to enjoy two excellent meals in the last week (Medlar) Both very different in style, but both class acts, nevertheless. Not sure how many days Simon will spend here each week. Truth be told L'enclume is his true love and disciple Ben Spalding is easily capable of spreading the gospel in his absence.

Must not forget to mention service, which is unstuffy, friendly, and relaxed, in a true northern way. Special mention must be made to special lady Sandia Chang who has had tours of duty at Per Se, Noma, and Marcus Waring (who was trying out the food also on the day). She looked after us admirably.

Currently I am typing this in my hotel room trying to finish this report before the fast approaching check out time. We need to decide on where to eat today, but I really am struggling to think of anywhere that will even come close to what we ate yesterday, it has made that much of an impression.

Naturally, a big, big recommend.

Chefs soon to be even more under pressure. It starts today and I think they may have a spare table?

Simon to your left btw.

June 23, 2011

In those photos the dishes look so enticing that I needed just a gentle push to be convinced they also tasted great - well your narrative has more than done the job!

Thanks for those kind words.

Taste is all with me, as you know. Even though I'm seduced initially by a pretty plate.

Good review and a heady four stars from sometimes difficult to please Fay Maschler

A whopping five out of five from Time Out's Guy Dimond.

Time will tell what Michelin think.

June 22, 2011

Successful restaurants are not only about the quality of food which comes out of the kitchen. The feel of a place is just as important, and front of house can often make or break that "feel"

David O Connor has an impressive pedigree, this softly spoken Wirral born boy, worked at his parents restaurant, then Orrery, before working and managing front of house at Chez Bruce, The Square and The Ledbury. Twelve years with the group is some hell of an experience and boy does it show.

Posh chef (Eton and Oxford) Joe Mercer Nairne, would perhaps be more suited to University Challenge. "Mercer Nairn, studying archaeology and anthropology" than the uber hot, energy sapping basement kitchen. His chosen profession has taken him to The Savoy Grill under hard taskmaster Marcus Wareing. Out to Oz for a spell at Rockpool, and back home to work alongside Bruce Poole at Chez Bruce. So not to be sniffed at eh.

Some good reviews have come through since opening, and I wondered if this place was a notch above just a very good neighbourhood restaurant.

Don't change a winning formula, and you can see that in the menu, its very Chez Bruce in style, with perhaps a dish or two less on starters and mains. Seven starters, six mains, seven desserts, plus a cheese course is enough choice. We dined at lunch which is extremely good value.

Hand on heart there was not one dish that I would not have happily ordered.So I left it up to David to put together a tasting menu of as many dishes as he liked, with the caveat, we eat most things, we are fairly hearty eaters, and have no allergies.

Focaccia and a sourdough made with spelt flour are made on the premises, both good, the better being the latter.

Summer on a plate. Lavishly smothered in summer truffle, the Chilled Broad bean and pea soup got us off to a good start. Hiding under the foliage is little blobs of goats cheese, to add just a little distracting note now and again.

A signiture dish next, and on seeing it and eating it, you can understand why.

Crab raviolo, with brown shrimps and bisque sauce.. Bang, big seafood hit, crunchy salty samphire, packed to the brim raviolo bursting with briney crab. Same with the shrimp, all held together with the creamy sauce. A joy to eat. Perfect pasta, the whole dish leaving you panting for more.

Halibut with petit pois a la Francaise, Lardo di Colonatta, radish, baby gem and jersey royals

I was informed after the meal that the Halibut was a half portion, which surprised me somewhat as in a lot of other restaurants this would be normal plating size for a main. Just shows how generous and hearty the mains are. Remember of course we had tasting courses.

Intricate and exciting the Assiette of Rabbit had us flitting across the plate to sample the pate, red onion marmalade and garlic scapes. Back to the moist and flavourful rabbit with some sweet carrot puree, then a mouthful of the delicious pomme anna. A very good dish this.

Another good dish Lamb rack and confit shoulder took us off to the South of France, with its nicoise jus, balsamic peppers and sweetbreads, and some unannounced sun drenched black olives. Sadly though it was tipping it down outside on the Kings Road which was a bit of a reality check for us.

A very special treat next. Very special indeed, some aged twenty four month Comte from Bernard Anthony. David bought this in especially for a birthday party for Bruce Poole (Chez Bruce) but it only arrived the day after his party. Sad to say for him, but good to say for us.

Fantastic, served with what I thought may have been a medlar jelly, but turned out to be a more than appropriate quince jelly.

A trio of desserts next, and Joe Mercer Nairne has done his time on pastry, which very few chefs have the will to do.

Chocolate and almond torte with honeycomb ice cream and caramel sauce.

Buttermilk pannacotta with English strawberries, pistachios and financier.

Apricot and cardamon ice cream with baklava.

Lots and lots of oohs and ahhs from both of us, plenty of interesting flavours and combinations. Pretty plates of food which we just about struggled to finish, but managed it in the end.

Well, we really did enjoy our visit here, great service, fabulous food and enough very tempting options on the menu to encourage a very prompt return. In fact if we lived in London we would have already made another booking by now, I like it that much. Interestingly enough I was as impressed here as I was on our first visit to Phil Howards (The Square) Kitchin W8 and tipped that for a star, which it gained at first pitch. As is inevitable in top end dining circles, Michelin have already taken note and made two visits already. We can most certainly understand why. The critics and the locals all love it.

Trade in the evenings is brisk and sometimes frantic, whilst lunchtimes are steady, as is mostly the norm. I expect this place to carry on doing what it does best and continue to gain more and more followers going from strength to strength. As has already been touched on portion size and price point is excellent, especially if you can make it at lunchtime, where you can take one course for £14.50, two for £19.50 or three for £25. We went the whole hog so to speak, for that you will pay a little more. With an entry level bottle of wine, service, three hearty courses, tap water, expect to pay about forty pounds each, at dinner it will be about fifty five, and its worth every penny and more.

A really strong recommend.

Our two new best friends, and the most likeable guys that we have met in recent years. Your in for a treat.

June 20, 2011

Its hard to keep pace with Russel Norman's rapidly expanding mini empire, never mind sample all of the other new offerings in our great city. I have been meaning to try here for some while, but have been distracted onto other things instead. Truth be told I had a craving to return to Zucca. A favourite that I reviewed on here some time ago. What changed was that I read a review in one of the nationals and really thought it about time that I finally got down here.

As nondescript a frontage that you could imagine, but however in keeping (I assume) with the very strict design brief laid down by Norman. The area is tacky with a sex shop directly across the road, I was somehow glad that it was daytime.

The no bookings policy bugs me somewhat, but just before one on a Sunday lunch it was quite quiet with a good choice of barstool seats. Having said that about a half hour later a queue was already forming at the bottom of the room, such is the popularity of this place.

We enjoyed the freebie, oversalted, chilli oilslicked popcorn as mentioned above, in a slobby sort of way.

The placemat/paper menu is short and to the point. Laid out as Spuntini,(snack) Sliders, (mini burgers),Salads, Plates, Sides, & Desserts. Then a very short wine and drinks list so as not to confuse.

We kicked off with some Eggplant chips (£4). which were served with a inoffensive fennel yogurt, for dunking said chips into. Not bad these, worth trying.

Next up was some very tasty, but an incedibly mean serving of Softshell Crab (£9.50)served with a tabasco aioli. I'm sure this is the same dish that we ate at another Russel establishment, Polpetto, where the serving is more akin to generosity.

The shaved fennel served with it was quite muted, perhaps as well really.

I had read quite a bit about the burgers, so we thought to try a couple of them to compare them to what we have eaten recently.

They both arrived on the same plate, Pulled Pork and pickled apple £4.50) and the one that I most wanted to try, the,Ground Beef and bone marrow £4.50).

All the usual suspects.

They looked impressive enough, with both having nice mounds of meaty filling. Copious amounts of cheese flowing down the beef. However the beef was lacking in dribbly moisture. It was cooked correctly, pinkish inside, but I wanted to index finger, dribbles of fatty goodness from around my mouth and chin and it did not happen. Shame.

Same again really for the pork, although with pork I suppose its not going to happen. Good porky flavour, did not get any pickle in the apple at all. Not really getting the buzz much. And most certainly the beef version nowhere near as enjoyable to the recently devoured one at Opera Tavern.

Calamari, chick peas, ink, (£8) was decent. Not a lot to say about the dish really, it ate quite well. You need a spoon for the juices. Calamari is what it is, and thankfully this was not the chewy version. I think we would order this again, if we returned of course.

At this stage I enquired about bread, only to be informed that it was not charged for and was available, but none was in sight. A couple of minutes later it appeared with our next dish, Spicy sausage, lentils, and radicchio, (£8).

An ok-ish sort of dish. The sausage (no I did not ask) had a muted, indistinct flavour. The slightly bitter radicchio is very popular in Italian cookery and worked quite well here, although I would have liked more flavour from the sauce.

The bread had been toasted and drizzled with the same chilli oil used to flavour the popcorn.

My wife cooked Macaroni cheese midweek and I just love her version over mine, which just does not have the same depth of flavour. So it just seemed fitting to put the Spuntino one to the test. Mac and Cheese (£8), is how it reads on the menu.

This arrived at the table, bubbling like a witches cauldron. Visually it looked great, but would it pass the taste test? Well it did, but its not as good as the wifes, and no I'm not just saying that. Although she does add sliced tomato to her version, and most certainly a lot more cheese. Good portion size easily enough for two and this version has breadcrumbs? added, ours does not.

We skipped desserts. Full to the gunnels, we were defeated.

I have mixed feelings about Spuntino. It does what it does quite well. Food for the masses. At the type of price point, that if your on a budget you will feel well at home with. However from our point of view, the chasm that exists between the quality of food that we ate the previous day is glaring. Even if I lived in London I would not dash back here. If it were around the corner from me, I would venture a return to see if anything new was on the menu, but thats all. I'm sure part of the draw is the buzzy pack mentality that exists, a sort of comfort zone for the unsure.

Still you know what they say about pleasing all of the people, all of the time.

Kitchen put to the test. Based on two people dining, but in fairness enough food for three, perhaps four. In other words, all of the above food about £70, to include a perfectly drinkable bottle of House Merlot (with no labels on it), tap water, no coffees or other drinks.

June 16, 2011

I like Chiswick, I like its high street, its side streets, its shopping, but most of all its accessability from the M1.
You've got a treat and a half coming up then, not sure if I can say too much at the moment but I suspect that quality wise it will be a lot more ambitious than La Trompette.

You got my juices flowing now. :biggrin:

If you can reveal, and don't want to share you can always pm me. I promise that I will keep it to myself. :wink:

June 13, 2011

I love those pair. Not spoken to Jenny but both are an unassuming couple, totally devoted to what they do. Heads down, delivering on the plate excellent, classy food.

Its clear they have inherited a huge amount of class from Aiden Byrne in much the same way Aiden inherited the same, when he was Tom Aikens head chef. Long may this perpetuate. You can see Aidens style in the dishes, but what shines more than anything else is the depth of flavour in each dish. In time Stewart will develop his own style but rest assured big flavours will be top of the list.

I feel a visit is on the cards.

June 13, 2011

I thought it would be remiss of me not to include some history of St Pancras station, so if you click on the link you begin to understand perhaps the estimated £800 million pound refurb costs. That of course does not include the renovation of The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel which houses Marcus Wareing's Gilbert Scott restaurant, named after the famous architect responsible for creating the original somewhat stunning building.

The estimated one million English pounds that the 20 tonne, 30 foot high bronze statue "The Meeting Place" by artist Paul Day cost is perhaps justified, as its quite a spectacle. Its located at the southern end of the massive building complex and if you park your car on site, you have one heck of a treck to reach here, comforted in the knowledge that you are in close proximity to the Gilbert Scott.

I have a gripe, so I will get that out of the way.

I booked online and was asked if I had any furthar requests? Yes, "Can we have a table looking into the room please"

We were shown to a table in the middle of two others. One was a table of two ladies, another a mixed group of three. Now it may have been a table for seven, the tables were touching. The waiter had to pull our table out completely so my wife could climb in. Pathetic. I made my point about the booking request and the Maitre D said he would try his best to accomodate us. He did not. He never returned to us, but as luck had it the two ladies were really good company. Nevertheless this is really shoddy service and no where near good enough.

The menu mentions links to British classics. Dishes inspired by Isabelle (Mrs) Beeton, Florence White, and John Nott. It of course drags you all around the country from Dorset (crab and jugged steak), Cornwall (lobster), Manchester (tart) Bakewell(tart). Cumbria next, for some Kendal Mint cake. Up to Scotland (halibut) and into the Welsh valleys, for some Glamorgan sausages. All in all fifty five choices, to include three English cheeses, eight vegetable side dishes, and seven accompaniments.

The pictures above were taken near to the end of service and do not convey the fact that for a Saturday lunch it was close to full. Satisfying indeed for Mr Wareing, not so for those travelling cattle class. Note the casual apparel, no dress code here. The room itself is quite grand, but the artwork is to me dreadful, but you know what they say about beauty?

Bread was good to very good, although it should be given that they charge an archaic £2 cover charge. Witness, rye and fennel seed, and sage and aniseed, made off site to historic recipes. Its not sourdough but made with a starter with added yeast using barley flour. I should add no side plates were on our table. I asked TWICE for some. None were forthcoming.

Mushrooms on Sippets (toasted bread)(£8) was essentially posh meaty Portobello mushrooms on toast. Poshed up by the addition of bone marrow and a tasty red wine sauce. Quite satisfying, I enjoyed this.

Dorset Crab, pear and hazelnuts (£10.50) Required a machete, not a knife and fork. This thicket was not worth the effort. A bland dish indeed. The crab had legged it back to Dorset to soak up some brine. Sorry, I want a lot more flavour than this for my money.

I was really looking forward to my next dish Rabbit and Prawn Pie (£17.50)

especially when I learned it was cooked in a Veal and Lobster bisque. It arrived looking like the dogs goolies, shortcrust pastry gleeming in the sun. As may have been expected rabbit being a dry meat there was not enough of that totally delicious sauce. It was generous in proportion but separating the rabbit chunks to take on the sauce resulted in running out of moisture towards the end of the dish. A ladle more of sauce would have worked wonders. The prawn element consisted of three of the same that looked like they were from a Tesco frozen pack. Shame as this is so very close to being an excellent dish.

We ordered three side dishes of green beans, carrots and new potatoes all at £4 each. Now I like al dente but chrimes the beans and carrots were near raw. The potatoes just about cooked, if not they would have all gone back.

Essentially a winters dish, but nevertheless a chefs favourite, because of profit margins and flavour. Our next dish was Dorset Jugged steak (£16.50) In essence, braised featherblade, a very tasty bargain basement cut of meat served with an over reduced port and redcurrent jelly sauce. I did not try the pork dumplings sitting atop. The sauce was cloying and as such spoiled the dish. I remember being surprised at how sticky it was. Shame really as the dish holds much promise indeed. This plate of food neaded some mash and plain veg to cut through the richness.

Both quite full now and not really fancying any of the other heavy sounding puds we decided on the lightest sounding dessert on the menu, Mrs Beetons Snow Eggs (£7), even though I thought it would be sickly sweet.

I will happily admit to being wrong about this. My first taste nearly verified my initial thoughts, however it all worked beautifully the second to third spoonful in. The different textures, the crunch of the peanut and everton toffee, the fluffy poached meringue, the depth of flavour from the burnt honey custard. The surprise runny toffee sauce inside the meringue. A classic and truly delightful dish. Well worth the entrance fee.

You know that we are not wine buffs but normally try an entry level bottle of generally New World stuff. Sadly only one white and one red was sub £30 so we settled on a glass each of Hochar Pere et Fils, Chateau Musar, (Lebanon)(£6 each)

We enjoyed it and think you may also. Water is free by Thames Water and in plentyful supply.

Well we are not on our own reporting issues here, just read the other reviews. Hopefully Marcus Wareing will cajole his lieutenants into action to address the various problems. The kitchen is the most worrying, but as he suffers fools badly

expect him to kick ass until they get it right.

As expected its not cheap. They must have spent a fortune on the place, and have targets to reach, and as mentioned upthread a nearly full difficult Saturday lunchtime must be very encouraging indeed. By the time that you add cover charge, vegetables, service charge, a glass of wine each and perhaps coffee expect to pay about £55pp. Worth it if they can progress to a higher level.

Would we return?

I guess we would, as really it can ( and really should) only get better ? but especially perhaps if we were taking Eurostar, but not really for any other reason. We would not take the trek again in any great deal of hurry, as there are just too many other options available in London currently. Besides which, there is loads of choice on set lunch options at other restaurants for us, an option this place does not offer.

Don't let that put you off though, it may well suit you down to the ground, especially if you are in the area.

June 11, 2011

I'll consider that a telling off then should I Pam? :laugh:

Has the chef changed?

They still hold a Michelin star, could it be that bad? and,

I know how hard you are to please Pam. So is it at all as bad as you make out. :biggrin:

June 11, 2011

Yes, we also enjoyed La Becasse.

The Stagg Inn at Titley, a Michelin starred roadside pub is another place we enjoyed. In the middle of nowhere, its good to see the locals still at the bar, at what is essentially a restaurant, not a pub anymore. It is a good while since our visit, and I remember some terrific game dishes skillfully handled.

June 8, 2011

MarinaMetro's review (page 33)

Yep, just read it, and I'm slightly relieved that we agree on a number of points, especially that we tried some of the same dishes.

Best post it up soon.

June 7, 2011

We had a meal here at the weekend, with mixed results. Nice room, fantastic resurrected building, so so food, and slightly questionable service.

Will post a review when I have a spare hour or three.

Yep, thats how long it takes me. Its oh so simple a read, but crimes it takes an age to put pen to paper, so to speak.

It really is a labour of love.

June 7, 2011

Bloody builders. Grrr.

Why can't they complete on time, eh.

Sack the buggers :laugh: , :wink:

Opening delayed until 25th June. Bookings now by phone 02074860380. Credit card required?

Good interview with Simon Rogan courtesy of Hot Dinners. Hints at possible London relocation in distant future.

I love London too.

June 6, 2011

London is a mess currently, with so many roadworks going on. Its virtually impossible to plan any journey time. We stayed overnight in West London near to Heathrow and left the hotel about 11.20 with a planned journey time of approx an hour to get to Barrafina. Wrong. With all the roadworks along Cromwell Road, then through Knighsbridge past Harrods, down to single file traffic in many places, we eventually arrived here at 1.10 fully expecting to have missed the boat with regard to one of those precious twenty three bar stools.

Amazingly surprised, we bagged the very two seats which would have been my first choice if we had of arrived early.

Not perhaps everyone's choice, we had a good view down the room. The only downside was that we were by the "waste station" so all the scraps of uneaten food, which admittedly was not a lot, were binned virtually right in front of us. No worries our eyes were only really for what was on our plates.

The paper menu is in the form of a placemat, split as follows. Para Picar (for the table) eight choices. Spanish cold meats, seven choices, Tortilla, three choices, Veg and Salads, three choices, Seafood, six choices, Meat, six choices, and finally Desserts, seven choices. On top of this are a specials list of about six or more options. Sadly by the time that we ordered, the suckling pig that Jason Atherton had raved and tweeted about had just sold out.

We started with three dishes, Sardines A La Plancha,(£7.80) Gambas Al Ajillo (£7.90), and one of the specials, Razor Clams with garlic and olive oil (£8.80).

The sardines and gambas were simply served and both amazingly fresh, as of course were the razor clams, although having tried the latter a couple of times prior (not here) I'm not convinced by the texture and ultimate flavour. They just would not be my first choice again. Purely personal preference of course. We asked for bread to soak up the olive oil, garlic jus. This was very good although a bit mean a portion to charge one English pound for. Portion sizes for all dishes were decent. The sardines were quite large in themselves.

We had a very refreshing course of Baby Gem salad, anchovies and Smoked panchetta (£6.90)

We followed this with another special Presa Iberica (£9.80) The loin of the black Iberica pig. This was an extremely tasty piece of pork, absolutely delicious. It sat on a bed of potatoes and the sweetest of roasted red pepper that I have ever tasted.

I can't resist quail in any form so we took the simply sounding Grilled Quail Al-i-Oli (£6.90). I was happy just to chomp on the just cooked and pink quail although they are a tiny bird so it was gone in seconds.

Our final dish was one which we lusted after seeing it arrive at another table Grilled Lamb cutlets (£9.90) although we did not realise it at the time, they had ordered an extra portion. So instead of the expected four chops, only two arrived.

We were disappointed, a bit of a mean offering, and not very good value for money. Also the lamby flavour was missing, no real depth of flavour like the pork, just so so, I'm afraid, thats all.

Well, all in all, we understand why this place is so popular. Busy buzzy atmosphere. Proper decent quality, well sourced food. Mostly good value. Whats not to like?

Service by the way was as good as you may expect given the rather intimate surroundings. In fact i would guess that you would have to love your job to be able to work here, as there is no hiding place.

Well to sum up. You could get a decent meal here consisting of two courses and a glass of wine for about £25. We however went the whole hog so to speak, and demolished seven courses, some bread, a bottle of wine, no aperitifs, coffees or extras. However on reflection we should not have ordered the final lamb dish and our bill would have come in at a more reasonable amount.

So there you have it, all the eights, £88.88 which includes that miserable 12.5% service charge.

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