London Eating

It’s difficult not to like Nobu, although for choice I think the Nobu in Las Vegas is far better value, especially given the basket case state of the US dollar right now.  On my most recent trip we let the waiter order for our table of 8.  I must commend him on his choice, although I guess giving him carte blanche is why there was so much Wagyu beef.  Some of the tuna dishes were sublime, it’s an incredibly precise kitchen turning out consistently top notch food to a clientele who are happy to pay for it.  It’s very difficult to imagine the recession coming to Nobu as long as they have such excellent food.  Although it’s a bit of a cliche, the black cod is fantastic and an essential choice.  Other than that, the nobu off Berkeley Sq. has a great bar, with fantastic cocktails - so if you’re happy to spend it’s a great place to spend an evening.

Following a glowing review in Hardens I was expecting great things from L’Anima.  Sadly, we were let down by them losing our booking - while I appreciate it happens from time to time, they were somewhat at a loss with what to do with us in the intervening hour and this added to the annoyance.  At the end of the meal they also had the cheek to try and charge us for the drinks they had offered us on the house…so pretty bad start.

Nonetheless, the food was good and the ambiance of the place was nice.  The starter of wild mushrooms with truffle was prepared perfectly, the only gripe was the main course veal was underseasonsed (read NO seasoning).  Because we’d been pushed back an hour we didn’t get to try to desert which was a shame, perhaps we’ll return

Nonetheless, it does show that a restaurant can ruin things immediately if they don’t deal with things properly - hopefully L’Anima will improve it’s customer service.

Finally made it to Tom Aikens last night and I must say I was impressed.  The large waiting area creates a nice ambience as soon as you step of the street, so I quickly found myself whisked into a Michelin starred world of pleasure.  The room is lovely, a nice airy room with a relaxed and unstuffy atmosphere. The amuse bouche arrived consisting of a breaded deep fried foie gras ball - like a 1000 calorie fish finger - which was sublime, there was also a very nice piece of duck and a glass constaining vegetable jelly and foam.  My starter was called ‘peas’ and thats exactly what I got, expertly presented in different ways.  The kitchen illustrated how it  could make elixir out of even the most humble of ingredients.  After I had dover sole with ham hock, an interesting combination that worked well, the fish was perfectly cooked and the combo was great.  What followed was the most impressive selection of desserts I’ve had in a restaurant.  A pre dessert arrived with a wonderful vanilla flavoured foam, followed by my desert of ‘pistachio’ - keeping with the theme here of ingredient focused courses, this was a number of ice cream and mousse textured items, again keeping the focus on pistachio.  Each morsel, beautifully presented and with a wonderful taste.  At the same time, they brought a huge selection of additional desserts to the table.  There were 5 test tubes, presented in a beautiful piece of wood, with a wide array of flavours - these were beautifully surrounded by chocolate lollipops.  Additionally, they brought 5 shot glasses with additional deserts and a tray of petit fours.  It was a visual masterpiece and was a wonderful way to end a great meal.  The service was attentive, without being overbearing and this helped create a memorable evening.  Definitely planning to return.

Mangal in Arcola Street in Dalston, remains one of my favourite restaurants in London.  It’s a small turkish bbq restaurant, that is constantly jammed.  The quality of the meat is superb and is served with a nice salad - it’s what Atkins must have been dreaming about.  The service is fast, which means you don’t have to wait too long for a table even at busy times.  I’m very fond of the mixed grilled special which is a selection of different cuts of lamb and chicken in addition to a quail.  They also do superb takeaway in a paper thin bread which is wonderful.  Did I mention it was cheap as chips?  So overall, great food, great service and tremendous value.  Up till now it’s been BYOB but I noticed last week an application for a licence so perhaps the BYOB is finally coming to an end.

Having heard so much about Chez Bruce in wandsworth I finally made the trip this week.  It’s a nice dining room, elegant yet without the stuffiness of a lot of starred restaurants.  With food envy firmly in mind everyone went for the same starter of Crêpe parmentier with home cured gravadlax, dressed crab, peashoots and herbs which was delicious.  The combination of the ingredients was divine.  While it was elegantly put together it wasn’t fussy, which I liked.  I tried the cote de boeuf with crispy fat chips afterwards and this was also superb.  Dishes that appear ’simple’ like this are a true test of a top restaurant, because there is no room for compromise, you need to start with fantastic raw ingredient, cook them expertly.  The chips were fantastic - probably edging ahead of Heston Blumethal’s pub in Bray (which uptill now were the best I’d had).  Deserts were nothing special, but then I’m not a huge desert fan.  My only complaint, given the status of the restaurant was the lack of amuse bouche.  It’s usually a nice opportunity for the kitchen to be a bit flash and flamboyant and it’s a shame they don’t do that.  If I lived locally, I’d probably come here quite often - it combines great food with a non stuffy environment.

In the last couple of months I’ve been here 5 times, I can’t remember going back to a restaurant as frequently.  In the first month, the food was generally excellent (although I did have one bad experience -  part of the growing pains of a restaurant).  In any event, new restaurants can have their off days and the quality of the food is simply superb.  The quality of the pasta easily matches any Italian food I’ve had in London (including michelin starred restaurants), but the real selling point is the atmosphere.  The owner, Paolo has created a restaurant with atmosphere.  There is an air of friendliness that makes going with friends a true pleasure.  Added to the superb food, is a great albeit small selection of wine at amazing prices.  On one occasion we got some beautiful Barolo for £20 a bottle - which in a restaurant is simply unheard of.  They’ve setup a nice jazz club downstairs and I’m hoping to pop along there too.

A must try.

1= Royal China with branches around London continues to offer the best Dim Sum in London.  I think that the combination of great dim sum with a very strong chinese menu (their yeung chow fried rice is definitely the best in London).  The most basic of dim sum like Har Gau and Siu Mai are superb.  With the advent of the Royal China Club, a slightly more high brow concept they’ve expanded the dim sum menu to include some more premium items such as Lobster.   Full Disclosure: I’ve probably been to Royal China over 25 times (perhaps I’m biased).  The service is consistently superb.  Number one choice for lunch.

1= Yauatcha - I’ve only been here a few times, in the opening week and about 10 days ago.  Where Royal China is opulent in decor - Yauatcha is supercool and sophisticated, love the aquariam downstairs.  While the food is probably just a tad behind Royal China, the service gets nowhere near to the slickness of Royal China.  Having said that, the great atmosphere, good food and wonderful deserts would make this my first choice for dinner.

The Others

Ping Pong - Nice place, feels like wagamama for Dim Sum.

Dim T -  Dim Sum and Noodles at a good price, however not even close to Royal China and Yauatcha on the dim sum front.

As a regular visitor to borough market I’ve compiled a list of my favourite places within the market (if I haven’t named them, I hope that describing their produce will help)

Konditor & Cook - Amazing cakes

Booth - His stand next to chorizo man (see below), provides a tremendous array of fantastic fruit and veg.  The real speciality is mushrooms.  He’s seems to be able to source fantastic wild mushrooms throughout the year and given that a fresh porcini mushroom, even in the hands of an inept cook is a pleasure well worth the trip.

Chorizo man - Next to the Brindisa shop is the ‘chorizo man’, makes a simple sandwich of grilled chorizo, grilled peppers and olive oil - simply devine.

Sillfield Farm - Best bacon.

Boston Sausage - This guy has amazing boston and lincoln sausages

Truffle man - Loads of products containing truffles, the polenta with truffles and chicken liver pate with truffles a highlight

Parmesan Cheese Company - Ok, while parmesan is hardly a difficult product to find these days, the owner is such a nice bloke, that I find it hard to buy parmesan at Tesco’s rather than from him.

Tips - Get there before 9am, as borough market is clearly a hotspot on the tourist map if you get there late in the morning, be prepared for crowds.  Before 9am it’s relatively calm.

I’m reading an interesting book at the moment called The Black Swan. The author makes a great point, ‘the next killing in the restaurant industry needs to be an idea that is not easily conceived of’. Now, while the book is not related to the restaurant industry - the idea that by choosing an unusual idea you can carve out a niche in a very busy market is quite right. Ask anyone 10 years ago if they could imagine a Starbucks on every high street in the UK, the answer would probably be no.

Hummus brothers, is the type of concept that no one would have imagined could have worked, yet it has all the components of a good concept - simple, good and a little bit quirky. As the names suggest this is a restaurant that serves hummus with a number of different toppings. Now, while the thought of a plate of hummus as a main course may sound a little strange, the Hummus brothers win in the execution. The central product (hummus, in case you hadn’t guessed) is very good and they add to it a range of different toppings such as chicken, beef and mushrooms. Based in Wardour street, although it’s certainly a niche offering it’s great value and while clearly not haute cuisine the quirky menu allied to the wagamama style seating makes for a different lunch venue.

In a bid to squeeze that extra bit of revenue out of his flagship restaurant in Royal Hospital Road, the Gordon Ramsay group are offering a monthly cookery school.  The budding chefs arrive at 9am and learn how to prepare the meal while the chefs guests arrive at 12.30 to eat.  I turned up at a guest at the appointed hour and we were treated to 3 fantastic courses.  The whole experience is certainly not as fussy as going there for dinner, with the additional downside that you don’t get any amuse bouche or intercourse specials, nonetheless the food is great.  During the course of the meal at appointed times, the ‘chefs’ buzz off back to the kitchen to finish the cooking of the next course.

The meal consisted of a starter of scallops and potatoes with a truffle sauce, beef wellington and then a chocolate fondant to finish.

Our chefs did remarkably well and I think the experience of cooking in a 3 star kitchen makes it one of London’s hidden experiences.