We decided to meet up with our friend who lives in Covent Garden and her new best restaurant is this place. We got a last minute booking at the bar but when we got there it had been upgraded to a table at the back of the small dining area (probably the best table in the house if I was honest!) You are immediately impressed by the reception and atmosphere. It’s busy yet calm, light but not bright if that makes any sense! It was all looking promising. I had no preconceptions as to what the food was like and had read no reviews (but all were glowing allegedly) so I really had no idea what to expect. Many wines are sold by the glass or carafe and are good value. The house white was perfect.
The menu is quite small and in dimmed lights without the aid of any monocle (I left my sodding glasses at home) I could not make head not tale of the menu – no problem – the girls can order! And order they did. We shared the startes and mains and went for:
There are lots of options for small plates or large plates and so I remarked it was like an Italian version of a tapas bar. And in fact it is. I can’t really fault the food. It was fresh, enjoyable and above all unusual – certainly not your run of the mill Italian! Service was above average and apart from a mistake in ordering a rather expensive Chianti (mistake only being the price!!), the bill was very modest.
I shall be back and try and do the menu a little more justice only next time I will be armed with my reading glasses!!
It was a last minute booking that got us into Terroirs as this place is getting pretty busy!
After an abortive attempt to get a drink at the new Savoy – 45mins wait! - we stolled across the Stand and into William IV St to sample Terroirs food. Upstairs was heaving and quite noisy, so I was pleased to find we were decending multiple stairs into the underworld and to a much more tranquil space. Service was very good and we were well waited on. A selection of starters including Iberian Ham, Tomme de Savoie (bit small) and Duck Rillettes (quite large) and bread managed to put some of our hunger at bay. The Duck rilletes were very good – and not something I normally order (I have some bad memories of Rilletes du Le Mans).
Main courses consisted of Piperade Basquaise (a ‘small plate’) which was generally not liked, Spatchcock’d quail with romesco sauce (very good), Bavette aux Echallotes, Salsify & Girolles (very good and for a bavette it was very tender!) and then Red Leg Partridge, Spaetzel (I don’t actually remember seeing these on the plate!), Chestnuts and Bacon (fab). So far, the food was very good with the odd hiccup. The wines were going down well at the same time.
By the time the pudding was due to be ordered we decided to choose the Tarte Tatin for 2. At £12.00 it looked a little steep until it turned up in its pan and was not only fantastic but also would have fed 4! It was dark, rich and served with crème fraiche – it could not have been better.
All in all, we really enjoyed the experience and I can’t wait to go back! Cost with plenty of drinks was £87.00 per couple including service.
Another card that I have found is this little place close to Monet’s house. Giverny is about Midway from Paris to Rouen. It was one of those sunny days when we just fancied a lunch out in the open having enjoyed the house and gardens where Monet painted his famous works. The food was rustic, the garden busy and the weather was glorious – a definite must next time in that region.
Have a look at the typical menu here: http://www.giverny.fr/IMG/pdf/Carte_restaurant_2010_-2.pdf
I have discovered a couple of cards from trips to restaurants and one that stands out is this restaurant. Its part of the Bodegas Stratvs winery and doesn’t look to have been open that long. Serving fine dining, you can expect a decent meal – and of course, washed down with some of Stratvs’s own wine – and good wine it is, as is others on the island such as the wines from Bermejo.
I don’t have a record of what we ate but I do remember starting with papaya gazpacho and enjoying the food from that moment on.
Well, I wish it actually was a review! I seem to have mislaid some of my notes! From memory, the dishes were very good indeed. What came over was the inventiveness of some of the dishes – one such thing being the fact that chutney was served up in a filo pastry wrap rather than just a dollop on the side of the dish – excellent idea. The food tastes great and if I ever find my notes (or a menu gets emailed to me!) I’ll run you through it. If you find yourself in that part of the world, it is worth the detour.
Last year we went to the Wild Garlic a few times and had some great meals. The word some gives you the impression that all were not great. Well maybe so but that was more a matter of a budding restaurant and inexperience rather than poor food. Each visit got better and so I was really looking forward to see Mat Follas again after a few months and seeing how his restaurant, food and staff had changed. Well, changed it has! Not hugely in some areas but enough to make a big difference. The restaurant looks much as before: relaxed, bright and colourful (alright, just one colour) and the oak tables are ‘breaking’ in well. The staff were excellent. No gold stars for anyone in particular but everyone seems to enjoy working there and it rubs off. Maybe it is Mat’s excellent management skills or just that they are all part of a team that is doing well – I think a combination of the two. Roll on the food! I’m not going to eulogise about each course. I don’t have time and to be quite honest there are others more capable than me. What I will say is that certain aspects stand out. Firstly Mat’s food has improved and has jumped up another level in quality. Secondly, his portions are a little bigger – I’m not complaining here but in some cases they were a little small before.
So why was it so good? Taste and quality, I would say, oh and did I say faultless! It’s not food with foams and dotted sauces (Mat has used these words in the past) but it is still well presented. Just go there and sample the food for yourself.
I have to add that we managed to sneak in a lunch just before we left – Barnsley Chops with Wild Garlic Pesto – what a fitting fish for the Wild Garlic Resto!
Well I have been lax, haven’t I. No blog posts for far too long but I shall make amends!
I have spent the last 4 or 5 months of spare time either doing work on the house or finishing off the bodywork on my Alfa Giulia GTV to get it into the paint shop. The former is a never ending job but the latter is now done and the car awaits it paint. Anyway, back to foodie thoughts and what better way to do that than have a week off in
This year we decided to rent a house and base ourselves in one spot, radiating out to those corners of
In no particular order or any kind, the top venues we visited were:
I will write up a review on a few of these soon but I must say here that
The snow, almost disappeared, still evident in melting snowmen and the sun out like a warm spring day. That was last Sunday morning and had to be started with a walk with Ronnie. He misses the snow you know. Back home and a change before we go off for Sunday Lunch to Wallace and Co. It’s part of a new venture by Gregg Wallace (of Masterchef and Veg fame) and looks promising. A casual style of Café (not restaurant) that you would not feel out of place at just having a cup of coffee and muffin or a full lunch (I’m afraid it has to be the latter for me!)
Mrs.H. and I arrive on the dot of our booking – thank goodness we did – it was very busy. We were met, eventually, by a very polite front of house guy who sat us at our table (a 4 for 2!) “This will give you more room” (makes note – must accelerate diet..) We sat down and a waiter came over fairly rapidly to check the table and take our drinks order – Coffee for me and a glass of the house red, recommended by the waiter. A peruse of the extensive menu gives you the option of any thing from a breakfast to a salad. I wasn’t going to be led off the scent – I wanted my roast beef for lunch. The waiter took our order or should I say attempted to. He was very nice but didn’t quite grasp the English language! Not his fault – he should not have been employed in the first place – anyway he got his marching orders soon after I complained that I had not had my starter when the beef turned up! No matter, the day was lovely and I was relaxed. I ordered an onion marmalade and goats cheese with salad to start. Mrs.H decided she would save herself for the main course. This eventually turned up and was glorious – fresh and tasty. I’m not sure the salad was very good value – an extra £2 or so for a few green leaves. We now awaited the beef. I double checked my order, after the previous waited was no more, to see if they had got it right – ah, not quite. Having explained to the waiter that I wanted medium rare, they still persisted in trying to serve me up well done beef. No matter, this was swiftly and politely remedied and we both sat down looking at two massive cuts of rib of beef off the bone and the trimmings. I’m not going to wax on lyrical about the components of the meal but it was near on perfect for a Sunday lunch. Points were deducted (;-)) for Mrs.H’s slightly dry
In summary - The food is better than you expect, the service chaotic (but its only early days), the atmosphere is lively yet laid back and the value – very reasonable. Mr Wallace, I think you can relax at putting your name on the front!
I thought I had lost the menu from my visit there in September – it was a fabulous meal and evening. I may not remember everything from that evening but I do remember a fabulous meal.
It started by us turning up @ around 7:45 for our table booking @ 8:00pm. It was looking a bit strange with most of the staff sitting down and the maitre d' telling us to come back – 'the bar over the road was good' he said. We were now worried and whilst surveying the restaurant from a different bar from recommended, we mused over various delivery vans coming and going to the restaurant. We had theories from 'they have gone bust' to 'all the food is prepared elsewhere'. Never was it thought at any point that we were just, well, early.
The restaurant is not brightly lit, there are no pictures on the wall and the tables are small. The bar is typically French with a large mirror and prospective punters await at the bar whilst enjoying an odd aperitif etc We returned to a heaving restaurant and were escorted to our coffee table sized patch. The fixed menu (€45 per head) was given to us and were were asked if we had any allergies – with a firm no, he proceeded to tell us, very politely, about the forthcoming meal – it looked exciting:
I'll translate as I talk you through the experience. The amuse bouche comprised of sliced gherkin, salad, herbs, sliced radish and a sweetish dressing – a perfect opener! Then came the next course, this was lightly fried squid on a bed of pureed coco bean (a speciality over there). On the side was a tomato salsa and also halved cherry tomatoes, black olives and fresh basil – it all tasted very good indeed. Then the fish course! A small filet of lemon sole with miniature 'al dente' carrots in a sweet butter, caramel sauce and hazelnut on the top. It really was getting better. Then came the beef. This was like a strib of rib beef (no bone) and was delicious and very tender albeit quite rarer. This was served on a bed of rich and smoked aubegine puree – it looked fairly black – and this ensemble was accompanied by finely sliced pickled red cauliflour. By now my tastebuds were tingling – Some of these flavours were just incredible. After a well earned rest, we had both the pudding and the cheese. The former was an upmarked
The style of food is simple yet very tasty food – no Michelin presentation here – just served to perfection. Have a look at this clip on YouTube. You can also see here that it jumped in as the 40th best restaurant in the world - thats better than the Gavroche! If you are in
Whatever you want to call it, it was fun. It wasn’t too busy and we felt we had plenty to east, taste and do. We went on the Sunday and arrived 5 minutes before opening – not intentional but we walked in and up the stairs to the awaiting doors.
Here are some of our highlights:
Mat Follas – Owner / Chef
I felt I knew Mat even before I met him at his new restaurant in Beaminster, Dorset having seen him on Macterchef 2009 and other TV spots. Mat is a true devotee of modern communication media – including websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook (and probably others!) and that has helped in spreading the word about his new venture from the day he won Masterchef 2009 to getting him booked up weeks in advance already. Is it him or the restaurant people are coming to?
With this infamy it was a little difficult to turn up to his restaurant with an open mind, trying to ignore any pre-conceptions and earlier reviews.
We arrived to be warmly greeted by his front of house – someone I had met earlier in the year at the European Inn so that made me feel even more welcome. The ambiance is just right and the décor together with pastel green (a shade of which is seen all over
Mat is trying to make the restaurant casual and informal and it works like that. That said, I do like a better glass to drink wine from and a better napkin – not bad if those are the only faults I can find there!
The menu is short and supplemented by a few specials on the blackboard. ALL the specials looked good and I should have gone for the lot – but my jeans are already a little snug and I am trying to lose some weight! My shoulders did drop a little when I didn’t see any of this signature dishes on the menu.
Mat came out to serve the starter himself to us. Blimey he’s lost some weight (and I have put some on) – such is life in the stress lane. He is relaxed, polite and genuinely pleased to come out and mix. How refreshing. Mat is after as much feedback as possible – he really wants to succeed and I think if he carries on the way he is doing, he will. ‘We have got some way to go yet’ he admits.
My starter is a pea,winkle and scallop fritter. Conjured up earlier in the day – that’s what I call an adventurous chef. It was a very tasty dish – I was worried it may taste too much of one thing – normally egg! It didn’t and I enjoyed the lot. It was garnished with a fantastic salad – mostly of herbs and flowers – again a delight to look at and eat. Mrs H went for the goats cheese starter – I managed to prise a forkful from her and It was very good. Next we ordered a mussel gratin. I’m not sure if my dish was going to be delayed but out came a pea based dip and rustic crackers. Only then to quickly get my gratin. The dish was different in the fact it had spinach in the gratin and yes, more fabulous salad to the side. Maybe a slightly too sweet a dressing but not so much. A little rest and then it was on to the main courses.
I chose a ribeye steak and MrsH a lamb dish. The lamb dish was served with a minted pea puree, small roated potatoes and mange tout. It was a resounding success. My steak dish turned up and I did feel a little overfaced – my fault really as I sneaked in most of the gratin! The steak looked a little odd for ribeye. I immediately dipped my fork into the smoked mash as it was a new taste for me and good it was. Roasted veg and a princely dollop of tarragon butter on the meat. The meat was rich and succulent, not the most tender piece in the world and a little bit more rare than I would have ordered but the taste was great. When Mat came out to ask me if all was OK, I learnt I was eating water buffalo – that explained it! It is difficult to know whether a few spoonfuls of pan juices with decent stock as a sauce would have improved the dish – I think maybe it would – but I was OK about that. Mrs H opted off the pudding section (and I couldn’t eat 2! So I went for the poached pear with geranium and ice cream. What a delight and a very slight hint of geranium a really good finish. After a little toing and froing, I also managed to get a desert wine to wash it all down.
Mrs H thought the restaurant was fabulous. “I didn’t think it was going to be anywhere that good – what with him not being a proper chef” Mmm, well I see her point.
The atmosphere was great – in fact it was good to see tables talking to one another.
I think it all works. Mat comes across as a decent guy who really wants to see people enjoying his food. A man after my own heart really – well done, we’ll be back.
Review of The European Inn (04/08/09)
Owner/Chef: Mark Hammick
There is something about the European Inn that appeals to me.
The restaurant is very laid back and simple – in fact it joins forces with the bar which has a few stools for the regulars – I can’t imagine it attracts too many regulars just for a beer – don’t get me wrong, I’m sure in the winter it makes for a cosy pub scene but it stikes me you would go there for the food! And Mark Hammick certainly can knock up a very good plate of food.
The simple décor does lead you into a false sense of security and hides the fact that the food is of a high quality.
The menu had changed from the last visit we made about a month ago and still just as tempting. My starter was Scallops (hand dived) with a rocket pesto – light and full of flavour without being over powering. Mrs H had a goats cheese starter – a especially light cheese at that with salad and balsamic vinegar. Both starters went down well.
For the main course I chose a slow braised mutton with ‘oniony potatoes’ and roasted beetroot. The tender lamb appeared to be compressed into a rondel shape and was served with pan juices. The beetroot variety was long and thin (no idea if it is meant to be like that!) rather than round but matched the lamb perfectly. The other main was pork - perhaps a little overdone for Mrs.H but the dish was good.
A tray of
The wine list is not extensive but they are good ones. We, however, are rather partial to the Sherborne Estate (Dorset wine) white wine. A sauvignon blanc style of wine – and easy to drink with or without food – need I say more?
As we were booked in to stay the night we eventually drifted upstairs to a very comfortable room beautifully appointed, recently refurbished room - spacious, really comfortable bed and lots of welcome extras such as bottled water, sherry (!) and dressing gowns- we always get a good nights sleep there. We’ll be back there again!
It’s not often I complain but I have to admit that I had an awful meal last Saturday evening.
A certain pub in Downside, Cobham server up the worst plate of fish and chips I have ever eaten.
Complaints fell on deaf ears…. I may not go there very much but that’s probably a blessing!!
Rant over!
