Terroirs

[nikkib]

Has anyone been to terroirs yet, am thinking of going soon but haven't6 haerd much about it?

[Gary Marshall]

i don't think even dos hermanos have been. what's the schtick with the place? Is it wine oriented?

[Paul Reynard]

Dos Hermanos went about 6 weeks ago (I think). General idea is good ish wine with good ish wine bar food. Although I keep in meaning to pop in while walking by I haven't been myself yet but from what I've heard it is a bit middle of the road in all areas. It does however play heavily on biodynamice wines which alledgedly don't give hangovers so may well try and pop down soon especially as there is a severe sparcity of any wine bars in London.

[nickloman]

Dos Hermanos went about 6 weeks ago (I think). General idea is good ish wine with good ish wine bar food. Although I keep in meaning to pop in while walking by I haven't been myself yet but from what I've heard it is a bit middle of the road in all areas. It does however play heavily on biodynamice wines which alledgedly don't give hangovers so may well try and pop down soon especially as there is a severe sparcity of any wine bars in London.

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What's with the plural, terroirS - that just sounds wrong.

[Gary Marshall]

Dos Hermanos went about 6 weeks ago (I think). General idea is good ish wine with good ish wine bar food. Although I keep in meaning to pop in while walking by I haven't been myself yet but from what I've heard it is a bit middle of the road in all areas. It does however play heavily on biodynamice wines which alledgedly don't give hangovers so may well try and pop down soon especially as there is a severe sparcity of any wine bars in London.

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i should never have doubted them, i thought nikki being a local might have stolen the march on them!

[nikkib]

yeah i have been trying to get there for a while but am struggling to find time at the moment, planning on going next week so will do a full right up then...

[Paul Reynard]

DH: http://www.doshermanos.co.uk/2008_11_01_archive.html

Main extract:

'We found ourselves just down the road for a glass or two in Terroirs, a new Wine Bar near Trafalgar Square. Like Steak Houses there’s not nearly enough Wine Bars in Town: somewhere you can go and get a glass or two of decent wine and a bite of something.

Initially, things looked promising. On a Friday evening in a part of London’s West End where most hostelries were mobbed and somewhat rowdy, Terroirs stood out as an oasis of middle-class calm, selling wine and small plates to an older impeccably-behaved crowd. However, the execution, like (it pains me to say) a lot of things in this city, was a bit half-arsed. After spending an age (you really don’t want to know why) getting to a point where we had a carafe of warm white wine, £7.50 plus service seemed a lot of money to pay for some Duck Scratchings that were really Duck crumbs, a few Olives and some anchovies. Getting the bill was pretty tortuous too. Still, it may just have been an off-night and it’s probably the best of a bad bunch in tourist central.'

[rjs1]

Has anyone been to terroirs yet, am thinking of going soon but haven't6 haerd much about it?

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Haven't been yet, but I worked at Sorrel with one of the Terroirs partners, Richard Martinez, and he really knows his wines. He was restaurant manager at Al Duca, Zaika and Via Condotti, among others, in his time.

[Matthew Grant]

It does however play heavily on biodynamice wines which alledgedly don't give hangovers...

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How? Have they removed all the alcohol?

[Gary Marshall]

terry durack rates it highly.....

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fo...ng-1607031.html

[nikkib]

ok so finally got around to visiting Terroirs the other week. I went mid afternoon so only tried a couple of the little nibbles tehy have at the top of the menu - Duck Scratchings (which are definitely as good as everyone says) a terrific bagna caulda with carrots, radish and fennel, Cervelle de canut (Sp?)which i have never tried before but thought was very good indeed - very zesty tatsting and some delicious homemade bread. They have some very interesting wines by the glass and teh longer menu looked evry tatsy indeed - they have a plat du jour with a gls of wine available for about a tenner as well - mackerel fillets when i went. I would definitely recommend Terroirs for lunchn if you are in the area and can get a seat and will definitely go back when the full kitchen is open to sample some more dishes.

[olicollett]

It does however play heavily on biodynamice wines which alledgedly don't give hangovers

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"Biodynamic" is a hilarious woo-term that has somehow infiltrated the world of wine. It sounds a reasonable enough term to use, but when you read what it's about it's hilarious that it's become something taken for granted now.

From wiki:

Biodynamic agriculture, a method of organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view (anthroposophy, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner), treats farms as unified and individual organisms,[1] emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals as a closed, self-nourishing system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture

Now that sounds daft enough, but then there's the biodynamic calendar based upon an old woman from Germany, with days categorised as "fruit", "flower", "leaf" or "root". And now the supermarkets are starting to support this stupidity:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8008167.stm

And as for the idea of it doesn't give a hangover... well if you believe that one

[CalumC]

Of a similar ilk to homeopathy it seems.

[olicollett]

Of a similar ilk to homeopathy it seems.

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Quite.

I should apologise btw because I initially intended to type a short and to the point post but by the time I realised I'd started to rant it was a bit too late, sorry to everyone for slightly going off topic!

[Oliver Thring]

I think this is a brilliant new opening. In a way, it's a shame it's mainly been marketed as a wine bar, because the food is excellent, and very right for the times. Delicious bone marrow on toast and lovely pot-roast quail, although I wasn't such a fan of the much-trumpeted duck scratchings.

Review here: http://oliverthring.blogspot.com/2009/04/t...oss-london.html

[nikkib]

i disagree - it is very much a wime bar that serves food not the orther way around in my opinion

[PhilD]

A good meal here on Saturday night. Is it a restaurant, is it a wine bar? I am not certain it really matters. The menu is structured so that you can have a few snacks with your wine, or you can graze across the options to build a solid meal. We started with duck scratchings, then rillettes and terrine, moved through anchovies on toast, clams in wine, and chorizo with piperade and finished with cheese.

Every dish was tasty and enjoyable, the only slight disappointment were the much lauded duck scratchings, OK they are tasty but ours were like "duck dust". Novelty over substance?

The wine list is very strong, and not that badly priced. Yes it is biodynamic, but to me that simply means small producers who take extra care. As long as I don't have to pay a premium I find I prefer the alternatives to the big communes and MNC's in the wine business.

My only concern is that it is too popular, we had a two hour limit on our table, but they moved us around to accommodate an order for extra wine. I suspect its popularity has more to do with the price/quality ratio in the rest of London rather than Terrois being exceptional. It s good, and it would stand its ground in Paris. I just wish this was the average standard in the UK, rather than the delusional hype we get that the renaissance of UK restaurants means we have world beaters on each corner (before I get beaten up, yes there are great restaurants in the UK, just far too few of them).

[nikkib]

A late lunch here earlier today. A huge portion of a delicious and incredibly rich duck rillettes was an absolute steal at £5, A salad of Pea, broad bean and peciorino at £6, radishes and salt and some lovely crunchy sour dough breadwashed down with a couple of glasses of wine including a very good Arcese (sp?) one of their wines of the moment. The place was absolutely jam packed which is good to see and i found the service very friendly and they really seemed clued up on the wiens too which is always a plus point.

[david goodfellow]

Do you know something, we foodies really are a lucky lot.

Let me explain.

For £10 or so we can buy say the Good Food Guide, Time Out, Charles Campion, Michelin etc, or simply read the newspapers, or even better tune in for free to whats happening on this forum, to get some really great recommends that are tried and tested

I for one am eternally grateful that my hard earned cash is not wasted by visiting a poor establishment when there are so many good ones out there.

Which brings me to Terroirs.

I would never have found this place in a month of Sundays, if not for recommends, as it is for most of our restaurant meals.

Fantastic location in Covent Garden, right across the road from the "cop shop", but don't be tempted to park on this street without reading the parking signs very carefully.

Busy and buzzy on a Saturday afternoon, the first table that we were offered did not suit as I wanted sight of the action at the bar and kitchen. Gracefully we were offered (imo) a better spot.

Ok I know I could be accused of gushing praise, but I can be scathing when its called for.

Nothing but praise, here, the choice, the quality, the experience, etc.

The menu consists of, bar snacks, charcuterie, small plates, plats du jour, lunch special, cheese, and desserts. Excellent!

We chose, to start, the selection of Charcuterie (£10) a very generous serving of, Jamon, Prosciuto, Terrine, and Saucisson, Clams, vermouth,& aioli (£9) both extremely tasty and to most people a meal in itself.

I could not resist the Bavette, Shallots,& Red wine(£13) surprisingly tender steak with loads of flavour,

Our other dish was Spear caught(don't ask) Plaice a la plancha, coco, beans and herbs(£15)Which was delish, however the coco beans played havoc with me during the night

Sorry if my review is a bit sketchy, it was back in August and I lost the few notes that I made.

We were quite fortunate to be seated next to a couple of foodies, who were very well informed, and ate for England.

We exchanged notes, and tastes, although we fared better because of their large appetites

As we were totally sated we could not manage a pudding.

Thinking back the whole menu was totally edible, and the Pot Roasted Quail, Italian artichokes,Pancetta & gremolata(£12)which the loved up couple next to us had looked top notch.

Very well worth a trip, you can eat quality here for very little money

Enjoy!