david goodfellow
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Posts posted by david goodfellow
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Well it does not seem like a couple of months since visiting here. Approaching its first anniversary and with the imminent opening of its sister restaurant Polpetto I thought we had better get around to trying out this place. It does not bother me to be last to arrive at a party, but considering every blogger and their brother has reviewed this place what now seems an age ago, it was good to get my skates on.
The feeding frenzy has at last died down but it was as busy and buzzy as ever on our Sunday lunchtime visit.
In its previous life it was an Italian restaurant called Aperitivo. Perhaps the name hinting at the small plate formula that sadly failed to keep it in business.
I never visited the place but can not help but wonder if some of the fixtures and fittings have been re-used to help the start up costs.
Now I know a bit about business, but not a lot about the restaurant business, and start up costs, most especially in our great Capital must be very high indeed. Not so here me thinks, co owner Russell Normans expertise as former operations director with Caprice Holdings have stood him in good stead. Bare brick walls are the work of a labourer and a skip not a tradesman. The distressed effect throughout certainly had me distressed on my visit to the loos where a lick of paint would do no harm at all.
All the better of course to tempt more people inside, as clearly it does not smack of money, it makes it accessable to all.
On entering, there is an inviting bar for perhaps a dozen or so people with the restaurant proper opening up to the rear for perhaps another fifty or so.
The very clever "no bookings" policy in the evenings adds to profitability, as punters quaff away at the bar waiting up to an hour and a half for a table.That is not my scene, I am of an age when I enjoy some kind of certainty in my eating times.
We were lucky in one respect to be given a table for two, by a window, looking into a small courtyard, sadly though it was the "rocky table"
Oh no I here you cry not the bloody "rocky table" Yes the bloody "rocky table"
Fortune shone on us, the wedge was in leg stretching distance so no need to summon the overstreched, but nevertheless pleasant wait staff.
The brown paper placemat doubles as a menu and makes exciting reading for any foodie. Prices start at an unbelievable quid, yes one english pound and mostly hover around the four, five, and six range.
The most expensive at £11.50 is "A plate of cold meats" but this is way out of kilter with the other prices.
Mackerel tartare with horseradish (£5.50)was lovingly mixed with cucumber capers and radish, the accompanying crispy flatbread, carta di musica, tasted of nothing and was rock hard which spoiled an otherwise good dish.
Fritto Misto (£7) was a non greasy serving of fresh Whitebait, Squid rings and Prawns. Crispy, crunchy, with the zing of citrus, just right really.
I,m a sucker for Clams, On our very frequent visits to Miami,s South Beach during th 90,s I could not wait to check through customs and head off to the long sadly defunct Mezanotte, to eat Linguine Vongole, if ever a food memory lingers. that is the one for me. It became a ritual for us, and an endearing memory.
Now its obvious this is not in the same league, still it was decent enough, especially for £6.
I have never eaten Bulls testicles, but my mind ran riot when these monsters arrived at the table.
Polpette (£5) described as "mostly pork" by our waitress.
I suppose Veal, or a bit of Beef could have been in them, I could not make out which, as they were masked by a rich, dense, well seasoned tomato sauce. Trully delish and a meal in themselves, an absolute bargain.
We just had to try the Spinach, Parmesan, and soft egg Pizzetta (£4.50) a thin chewy based mini pizza with a gooey topping. The parmesan tickling the taste buds between the hit of spinach and sticky egg yolk.
This was a recommend from our server and it was a good choice.
Now by this time, most folks would be happily sated and I happily admit to being nearly full but too late we had already ordered so there was no going back.
Chicken cotoletta (£6) Was a tasty, moist on the inside, escalope, correctly seasoned, and paired with melting onions and pan fried little gem lettuce. Not bad at all.
Calves Liver, onions and sage (£6) was a hearty portion. Thankfully it was extremelly tender, as were the onions, however, it was lacking in flavour, and even with extra seasoning it did not rise to the occasion.
The Grilled, sliced flank Steak, with white truffle cream (£7) is a steal, and for my money a must try.
Nicely charred on the outside, cooked to perfection on the in, with just the right amount of "chew" to it. It went down a treat. The flecked black pepper and peppery moist rocket leaves did there bit well.
Don't ask me how two people could eat all of that food, I'm like a kid in a sweet shop looking at such an inviting menu.
From memory I think I did ask if chef Tom Oldroyd was in the kitchen and seem to think a negative was the answer. Still no worries everything ran well without him so perhaps his boss will allow him a bit more time away from the stove. Most certainly the kitchen was on song.
All of the above came to £72 which included a bottle of Sangiovese, tap water, but no coffees, but included 12.5% service.
Most people could happily eat for a lot less, but in the interests of research we pushed the boat out a bit.
Do go, its very enjoyable, but be lucky, just watch out for that bloody "rocky table".
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There is lots on the menu to tempt me.
I like the sound of the Snail and Bacon Pie, plus the Hare, which is a rare appearance. Hope its on when I go.
The Plats Du Jour look very tempting too, as does the Bavette, Welsh Lamb, Burger, etc,etc,etc.
Its very well chosen, could eat my way through it.
Better stop now I'm salivating
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Just to clarify the above.
It may say "Open in December" on the website but two different staff members at the hotel have told me about the January opening in conversation today.
I will dig deeper tomorrow.
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Sorry to put a damper on this but according to my information from The Mandarin Oriental the restaurant will NOT be open in December, more like the end of January.
Merry Xmas to you all.
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John, we are on the same wavelength it would appear. I took a 350 gram pack out of the freezer last night to naturally thaw out.
A pack of four from Morrisons at £1.30 they are a bit larger than the norm and if they were a touch smaller three each would be just about right for big eaters like the Mrs and I. They are however rich and filling so we can manage on two each.
The recipe does suggest 700 grams of Pork but I just use the above quantity but keep the veg about the same quantity but mostly substituting the onion for leeks or a mixture of the two.
I have two large pots of thyme growing outside. The larger one is Lemon Thyme which I adore and I mix the two, doubling up the recipe quantity. It works for me.
There is no mention in the recipe about trimming the cheeks, but all you need to do is take the sheath of skin which covers one side, off, very much in the manner of skinning fish. The white connective tissue running through the cheeks can be left untouched as this melts to nothing during the cooking process.
The honey can be reduced right down, 200ml poured into a measuring jug is an awful lot. I reduce this down to about two tablespoons of honey with no loss of flavour. This perhaps equates to about a quarter of the stated amount.
Cloves are again a matter of personal taste I tend to use a smaller amount which helps when I come to fish them out when the dish is cooked, as I am not keen on chewing on them when we eat the dish.
The initial cooking is done on the stove, after which I transfer it to a slow cooker (its cooking now) turned to medium. It barely bubbles on this heat and I cook it for four or five hours sometimes a little longer.
We love the resulting dish which we serve with in season creamy swede or fluffy mash and a nice green veg for a balance of colour.
As a footnote you may have to reduce your stock a bit to thicken it, do this by taking out the cheeks and most of the veg and boil it down. I never throw the veg away they hold a massive amount of flavour and add bulk and texture to the end result.
Hope this helps,
Happy eating
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Sounds good, so much so that we are booked in later on this week.
Am really looking forward to it.
Anyone know who is in the kitchen?
Could it be Anthony Demetre to start with?
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Its just won AA London Restaurant of the Year
Not surprising really, its a pretty special place.
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Is this the one your on about John?
Good old Manchester Confidential has its finger on the pulse of the City.
I am slightly confused in as much as I thought it was a new place, but according to this its been around some time.
Just checked and they are different places. The latter is indeed across the road from Red n Hot but I have not been to either of them,,,,,,, yet.
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I recently stumbled on a book shop in a nearby market town with quite a decent collection of cookery books at bargain prices. Needless to say I have added to my collection.
On a recent visit, Mark Hix British Seasonal Food, sat in a corner marked down to £2 only because it was ever so slightly damaged on the spine. Well I could not resist, confident in finding a handfull of recipes to try.
One of his recipes, Grilled Ox liver with creamed mustard onions, caught my eye. In it he states that being a chef he has always been obsessed with cooking expensive calves liver from Holland, but that ordinary beef liver has similar eating qualities, and you pay little or nothing for it because butchers think it is of little value.
Well normally I would only eat Calves, or Lambs liver myself, but what do I know.
So Morrisons have loads of it, and cheap as chips, about 55p for a veritable mound of the stuff.
I chose some thicker sliced than normal, quickly flash fried and it turned out spot on, beautifully tender. You need to be a bit more diligent trimming it, but the flavour is really good indeed, not at all strong as I had been led to believe.
Some people advocate soaking it in milk although I did not.
Good old Mark Hix
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where did you go djpeteboy?
Yep were interested, where did you go in the end? report please, or just a reply would be nice
I've been out to lunch in London a fair bit recently.
I,m a lunch person, perhaps because I'm up early, a long lazy lunch is my choice any day of the week.
I agree with your choice, but I have not eaten at the Landau and may give it a try now.
Arbutus needs another try as our Saturday visit(a long time ago now) fealt a bit like eating at a cattle market. Service was rushed and lacking, but nothing wrong with the food just the wrong choice of night.
I liked Wild Honey a lot.
The dining choice in London is second to none just a shame its so bloody far away
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I think about £8 each is the norm. I'm pretty sure Adam Byatt (Trinity restaurant)mentioned that price point on Saturday Kitchen.
Can't find any local. Still, good to see others getting their share
I had it cooked for me at Wild Honey last weekI like Wild Honey, do you mind me asking how much it was ?
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Don't know if you've noticed David, but the hot poached lamb has improved recently, it's served differently, in a dish which highlights the lamb rather than making it look like a bucket of chillis in broth!
I think your right, the lamb is most prominent now, hiding the chillies between the layers of meat and iceberg lettuce and that is what caught me out. Still I shall know next time.
Anyone know if Red Chilli have any expansion plans to this end of the M62?
I'll ask the question on my next visit
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It fealt like a form of betrayal, last year, when I jumped ship and popped around the corner into Chinatown proper to try Red-n Hot. What I thought at first was to be a brief flirtation, turned into a bit of a love job, and we have been going there (mostly) ever since.
Our recent visit to London's Chilli Cool clearly brought comparison to my first Sichuan love. So I needed to re-establish our relationship as it had been tested last year by way of a poor meal.
I knew which two mains to order and my wife wanted to try the Soft shell crab again but this time with a different sauce from the one we nearly sent back last July.
Just as I remember it, nothing changed, even the weather. Downstairs to heaven.
The manager tells me chef Old Xie has retired and is back in China
New chef ( and perhaps just as accomplished ) is Gang Wang, pictured here with our charming waitress, who,s name escapes me.
One must try again dish was the Gongbao diced Spring Chicken, a sticky goo-ey plate of loveliness.
I'm not quite sure what it is that draws us back to this dish, again and again. Perhaps its the sweetness, the crunch from the peanuts married with the spring onion, or the tender chicken and thick garlic slices. Just a fab dish for us.
One new thing for us on this visit was an additional nine page menu of "specials" and new arrivals. We were tempted by a few but opted for the safe route for this visit, but there really is a massive choice on both menus, most of which deserve exploration.
Another "safe" dish for us, Stir fried French beans with chilli and Minced Pork. Real comfort food, tasty mince with crunchy beans and not too much chilli.
Bang on the money.
She who must be obeyed, thinks the Spicey hot poached Lamb is too hot to be enjoyed, I of course disagree, but I am a bloke so of course we just had to have it, most if not all of it for me, and a big doggy bag to take home. Yee Hee.
Now this really is a huge dish of food and the picture does not convey the true size, as the quantity is nearly twice that of the other dishes.
Surprise, surprise Cilla, the first couple of spoonfuls are acceptably pleasant. No fierce heat, which raised a smile on my wifes face tempting her to try some. We both agreed, just right.
My next couple of spoonfuls caught me out big time, I must have chomped down on seven or eight birds eye chills which chokingly induced an irritating cough which I was concerned would attract the attention of the other diners. I did'n't want this, as tears were coming into my eyes and beads of sweat in the form of a moustache was evident under my nose. Lack of respect has caught me out and taught me a lesson, its still as hot as hell. I have to take refuge in the boiled rice and glugs of water.
One thing is evident between here and Chilli Cool and that is the different types of chilli used. Here they use the exceedingly hot birds eye propped up with sichan peppercorns and chilli oil. Chilli Cool (and Red-n-Hot)use the larger dry red chilli which is no where near as hot, more aromatic when dry fried to release the pent up aroma.
Our final dish was Stir fried soft shell Crab, chilli (what else?) salt and pepper.
Again a mini mountain of food, with absolutly no waste in it at all. Very pleasant eat and somewhat different texturally to the other food. We managed to eat all of this dish, so no need to doggy bag it. Yum, Yum.
Yes we know gluttony is a sin but we did order a bit extra so as to share our meal a bit with you,
and we did of course have a doggy bag so things were not so bad after all.We are more than happy to report our love affair with Red Chilli has resumed and furthar courtship shall continue over the coming months.
Our preference between Chilli Cool and here is most certainly the latter and its a damb site closer to where we live.
Watch this space.
All the above (enough for four or five) including a couple of glasses of wine, a pint of lager, and tip was £50.
Thank you.
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Looks like the new food critic at The Guardian, John Lanchester, likes the place too.
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All in all a thoroughly pleasant way to spend a weekend, eating far too much with the odd tipple here and there. Nowt wrong with that in my book.
An enjoyable read and good insight into the weekend.
Good to see a high attendance of top chefs, and typical of MPW to do a disappearing act, he does not change.
Any game on sale? especially grouse?
Ta.
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Someone else is raving about it here
I like the sound of it myself, but its way too far away for us.
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Not quite sure why this place has not had more reviews. Its been a foodie hot spot since it opened.
We went recently, and I will post my review soon.
Anyone else been of late?
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Well I am sorry to report we did not make it due to business commitments, but looking forward to any reports,
Yes we are venturing down Ludlow this weekend, so I will post on our returnSorry if I appear pushy, did you enjoy yourselves?
Worth the visit?
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Adam Byatt of Trinity Restaurant in Clapham (which we visited recently) cooked one last week on Saturday Kitchen
Interestingly enough Sat Bains was the other guest chef, seen here looking like he is built for battle.
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Anyone eaten or bought Grouse recently?
The Telegraph is reporting low numbers
The last one I ate was a couple of years ago at Sat Bains place, and jolly nice it was too.
Prawncrackers, have you spotted any in Birmingham wholesale market?
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Chilli Cool is London,s answer to Manchester,s Red Chilli. Or is the other way round? Well I suppose it depends if your a Mancunian or a Londoner. Me I am neither so I will sit on the fence.
Apart from both serving Sichuan food, the pricing, portion sizes, type of premises, etc are about even, so what about the food?
Well as most of you know we are big fans of Red Chilli and laterly of the Manchester branch of Red n Hot so it would be nice to make a comparison.
Our only other sichuan meals in London have been Ba Shan, which we thoroughly enjoyed, although the pricing is higher than Red Chilli and the portions are a lot smaller.
Boazi Inn was a bit of a non event for us as the sticky, tacky tables put us off, as did the brusque service, oh and the food was not that good either.
Located in the Kings Cross area of London and in the same street as the gastropub and tapas bar The Norfolk Arms ( which we did not rate ) it certainly is a neighbourhood restaurant.
It turns out that there are two restaurants and we went in the one on the left which was deserted and most disconcerting, a short while later a member of staff escorted us to next door ( to your right ) which had a bit more action going on.
The first thing that hit me as I decided where to sit was the acrid smoke from the basement kitchen, it was the unmistakable smell of dried red chillies being dry fried, I nearly burst into a coughing fit it was so strong.
We decided a visit to the loos were in order as we had a minor marathon in store.
This posed a bit of a problem as we negotiated the most dangerous set of stairs that I have had the very good fortune not to have fallen down. I kid you not dont try these in heels girls.
The kitchen is the tiniest we have witnessed, with only one chef on duty, no whites and dressed as though he had just walked in off the street,
The menus (two of them) contained the usual suspects, quite a few offally things, hot pots, noodles, etc. The dishes were fairly representative of the menu photos as witnessed by a couple of dishes delivered to a neighbouring table.
One of the dishes on their table was a prawn dish that we fancied so we ordered that.
Stir fried King Prawn with green and red pepper ( £9.50 ) was an enjoyable start to the meal, we think the prawns were coated in egg and flour first, then stir fried and coated with sesame seeds.
Heavily laden with dry fried red chillies (to release the aroma) it was not as hot as we have come to expect.
I would have liked some spring onion in there but leeks must have been on special offer as they seemed to be in virtually every dish on show. Good slices of lightly fried garlic added an extra pungency.
Now we have ordered four dishes, all mains and have asked if they can doggy bag the remainder as we know we can not eat all of this food.
Sadly the waitress does not understand me ( and no I am not drunk) so has to bring the manager. I,m not best pleased as we are in England not Szhechuan Province after all, and the situation is mutual I can not understand her either.
To furthar aggravate the situation no rice has arrived with the dishes, we wait, wait a bit more, decide we desperately need the rice to give a bit of respite to the chilli heat.
An age passes by and I'm beginning to think theres a bloody paddy field out back, that would be the ultimate bit of local sourcing, would it not.
Eventually, and with some cajoling from us both it arrives to save the day.
Next up and looking decidedly like the previous dish, even down to the same ingredients was Quick fried Chicken cumin and chilli (£8.80)
Again pleasant enough, or thats perhaps a bit mean as it was very enjoyable but I am not getting any sechuan peppercorns or much chilli oil ( they make their own ) The chicken is tender and the dish benefits from the addition of cumin (which we love).
The closest dish that I can order which in any way resembles the famous Red Chilli Lamb hot pot is this dish.
Sliced Beef sichuan style topped with chilli and sichuan pepper (£8.80).
Now this is closer to the real deal, yes I know its not lamb, but eventually we have the sichuan peppercorns in abundance. A slick of chilli oil, a forest of beansprouts buried deep within.
The beef is plentyful, moist within and tender to the bite.
A good dish.
I ordered this Aubergine dish (£6.80) and can not remember what it is listed as, but I'll tell you what it was bloody gorgeous, the sauce was delish, I think there was some chinkiang vinegar and soy in there , would have loved the recipe off the chef as it was top notch. The aubergine melted in the mouth I was sad to see it finally disappear from the plate.
We enjoyed the food at Chilli Cool, its no where near as hot as Red Chilli, which may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view.
The chicken and prawn dishes were comparable with what we have eaten in Manchester. The beef dish was not as inspiring as the Spicy Lamb in Red Chilli but still very good. As you know the Aubergine was very good indeed.
Portion sizes were good, however when you subtract the chillies this is reduced somewhat.
Pricing is a bit higher in London, our bill including a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Saint Clair, a 10% service charge came to £56.60. Not bad I suppose for a huge mound of food.
Service here was poor, in fact it was piss poor. I despair at having to pay service charge when the service is virtually non existant.
I nearly complained, which would have annoyed my wife as she does not like fuss, however I noticed on my bill they had charged me the lower price for the wine.
The wine I wanted was out of stock so they offered a higher value one but charged the lower price.
No complaints then
Service apart, we enjoyed ourselves and in the main we thought the food very good.
For a chilli hit and if your in the vicinity this place is worth seeking out, but be really careful on those bloody stairs.
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I never did get around to dining here, perhaps because when it was originally fine dining, it, or the pricing did not appeal.
That changed when Bjorn cooked a wonderful dish "Al Cremat" on Saturday Kitchen. I just had to eat it.
Sad to say I will not be dining here because it has become one of this years "casualties"
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Hi Amanda,
Any venture to Cambridge simply must include a meal at Midsummer House
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Hi Man,
I am flattered to bits to have you as a fan.
As you no doubt know, I have my share of detractors on here but plod on regardless with my down to earth reviews which hopefully reaches a wider audience than some of the highbrow stuff on the net.
I make the point in the review that I am a novice when it comes to Italian food, and bow to your vastly superior knowledge, it does of course help your cause that you are Italian and an avid foodie to boot.
You will notice a theme in my reviews, and that is value for money, Zucca certainly ticks all the boxes in that department and more, and perhaps you are right the quality may not be top of the tree but I feel most folks will not be concerned.
I do indeed take your point about top quality ingredients (and you should know about Italian ones)and do not try to kid anyone that I know it all about whats on offer from a country that I am unfamiliar with.
Virtually every meal that we eat out I learn a little more and feel blessed that we are able to enjoy and share our experiences with those who are interested on this forum.
Zucca for me, is perhaps the most approachable Italian restaurant for Joe Public to enjoy good produce, good service, great atmosphere and bargain basement prices, but we must remember of course its no where near or trying to be Michelin standard.
As I value your opinion I am dreading you not enjoying the place,
Please be kind
Polpo Bacaro on Beak Street
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
Hi Man, encouraging words, much appreciated.
We visited Polpetto today and was hoping Tom Oldroyd was in the kitchen but no such luck, still we enjoyed it and will post a report in due course.
I stumbled on thisvery interesting and topical article on polpette, Polpetto, and Tom Oldroyd. He does indeed add beef to his "meatballs" but I admit in my review that I was clueless, good to know the facts.
We tried the duck ones mentioned in the article, jolly good too.