Review - Hix Soho, 66 Brewer St, London

Having heard about this place for awhile now, it was an opportune place to meet up and try Mark Hix’s fare.

We had drinks in the bar downstairs to begin with and meeting up about an hour after work ensured most of the customers were well oiled. The noise levels are very high and its has a buzz – but not the best place to hold a decent conversation. Moving upstairs to enjoy our meal, we were well looked after by very courteous staff and in no time we were seated and the specials / meat options were discussed with us. We were even shown the cuts of meat on offer – one being a T-Bone for sharing. Sharing! I think not! Anyway we ordered a couple of starters for sharing – Wood pigeon with rhubarb and devilled kidneys. I tried the wood pigeon and it was soft and tender – I personally did not think the rhubarb worked with the pidgeon. I didn’t get the chance to try the kidneys (!) For mains, we had Beef salad, Pork chop and Smoked haddock. All three dishes were very good and the portions were generous. However, there were a lot of capers with the breaded porks chops. The posrk chops came ungarnished as well. The beef salad was anything but dainty – not a dish ideally served up to one of the girls. The smoked haddock dish was the only one with no issues.

A round off of special jellies (overated), treacle tart (not very treacly) and truffules (we had to have more..) downed with some Muscat made it all the more pleasurable.

We all though the food was good but may not go back if we wanted to hold a decent conversation.

Beetroot Rosti...

The demands of Mrs. H. are not to be ignored and with a challenge in hand I decided to have a go at Beetroot Rosti. Now, Mrs. H. is rather keen on Beetroot but I have never tried these before. After consulting a few recipes I decided to give it a go. This was going to be the accompaniment to a fillet steak and dauphinoise potatoes!

Ingredients (Makes 3 or 4):

• 2 raw beetroots
• Fresh ground pepper and sea salt
• 1 tbls of plain flour
• 1 medium onion
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp of butter

Peel and coarsely shred both the beets and the onion and place in a sieve over a bowl. The reason for this is we want to remove as much of the retained liquid as possible. Squeeze the shredded veg until most of the liquid has gone. Beat the egg and add this (as required) and some flour to bind the mixture. Season and then form into patties. Heat a frying pan on medium heat and add butter. When hot, add the patties and cook for approx 8 mins on each side until firm and crisp. Serve with the steak or on their own!

The general consensus was that the flavour was lovely but they could have been crisper. Walks off with head in shame!

its all work.....

I don’t seem to be experimenting much with my cooking! I have been slaving away on my Alfa Giulia Coupe restoration and neglecting my stomach! Mind you, additionally, I have been off the booze fore the last 8 weeks and this puts you off food as well. I wish I could say I have lost a shed load of weight but unfortunately Mr Salter seems to be stuck on the same area. Maybe its just the cold weather.

 

I’ll try something new tonight …..