I first discovered the
delights of offal when I started writing this blog, and not long
after, I discovered the god of offal that is Fergus Henderson.
Admittedly I have only cooked a couple of dishes from his books, and
they were both delicious, but I have wanted to eat at
St. John since
first opening 'Nose To Tail Eating' for the first time. So, on
planning a trip to our capital city, I booked dinner at St John
pretty much at the same time as I booked our hotel.
In the run up to our
trip, I did my usual thing and started to worry that St. John wouldn't
live up to my high expectations. I also read a few blog reviews,
including this
one,
which questioned how the restaurant had ever entered the top 50 list (it
has since left the list) and this did not help.
Before I knew it, we
arrived at Clerkenwell via the Tube. I instantly liked the area,
after the crowds of Borough Market and Covent Garden, the chilled out
atmosphere of Clerkenwell was truly welcomed. On spotting a
smart
wine bar across the road from St. John, we decided to have a quick
glass of wine as we had a bit of time to kill before dinner. We sat
outside and listened as a rather posh, and tiddly, lady chatted with
a friend; we learnt that she was cooking a roast at noon the next day
and that she wanted to go to a party. The fact that she was already
tiddly suggested that the roast might not happen, and this was only
confirmed three hours later when we saw her very tiddly and throwing
cocktails down her throat. Rather her than me!
We made our way to the
restaurant where we were warmly welcomed by the head waiter who
recognised me from my babblings on Twitter. I have said it before
and I will say it again, restaurants (actually businesses in general)
who do not use Twitter are seriously missing a trick. To tweet with
your customers is an incredibly easy and cheap way to build up a bit
of rapport which then results in business. It's a no-brainer!
Rant over, back to the
restaurant.
Our table was situated
towards the entrance to the restaurant which meant that I had a view
of the bar downstairs and although we were at the far end opposite
the kitchen, I was still close enough to see the chefs working away.
The room itself had an incredibly high ceiling and as it was full of
people chatting and laughing it was far from quiet in there! That,
the paper tablecloths, the plain white walls, scuffed wooden floor
and the simple (almost un-ironed) uniform donned by the waiters made
it clear that this Michelin Star restaurant was about the food, not
the farce that formal dining can sometimes be.
I should also point out
that the prices were pretty good too. In fact, a restaurant with
these prices would sit quite nicely in Sheffield with starters at
around £6-£7, mains at around £18 and desserts at around £7. The
wines are a little pricier and the wine list is incredibly daunting
as it's all French. Not wanting to automatically go for the house
option and not wanting to plunge for the Pinot Noir, on the basis
that it was the only one I knew, I asked our waiter for advice. He
suggested Les Rabasses, which at £40.40 was probably double what I
would usually spend on a bottle (certainly in Sheffield anyway), but
we trusted the waiter and went for it. It was a good choice and
having little to no knowledge of French wines I was very glad to have
someone else make the decision for me!
Onto the food. The
menu changes daily so, although I had been keeping an eye on it, I
knew not to pin my hopes on any one dish in case it didn't make it
onto the menu on Saturday. Thankfully I liked what I saw and it
didn’t take me too long to make my choice.
I am sorry to say that
I went for the foie gras (£11.60). I'm sorry because I know how
unethical this stuff is and as someone who refuses to eat anything
but free range, high welfare chicken, it is incredibly hypocritical
of me to eat foie gras. Having said that, I love it. I have no
excuse for ordering it and I have no clever argument for eating it.
I had considered leaving it out of this review, just to avoid the
potential backlash, but I probably deserve the backlash so here it
is. I'll apologise now for the state of the pictures...
It was, as expected, as
creamy as butter and simply beautiful.
Gav had the rabbit
offal (£7.30); the organs of one bunny rabbit served with beans and
leeks. The meats were cooked perfectly, pink to the centre but
deliciously tender. Having had chicken hearts before I expected the
rabbit's to be quite strong, but it wasn't all that gamey at all. In
fact, the kidneys and liver were also tasty. I didn't manage to try
the beans and leek, but Gav said that the flavours were simple and
good against the offal.
Of course we had to try
the bone marrow and parsley salad (£7.20). The marrow was fatty,
rich and tasty and great on bread (no butter required!). The parsley
salad didn't really appeal (I hate parsley with a passion and I can
barely stomach the smell of it, never mind the taste or texture) but
it worked well with the bone marrow and although some people claim
it's the parsley that helps the marrow work, for me it was the marrow
that made the parsley worked. Either way it was delicious and I can
clearly see why this is the restaurant's signature starter dish.
For mains I was tempted
by the pie option, pigeon and trotter gear I think it was. Now, I've
read a fair bit about trotter gear in Fergus Henderson's second book,
Beyond Nose to Tail, and I do love a good pie, but I had already
spotted the lamb sweetbreads and there was very little that could
sway my decision.
Sweetbreads (£17.60)
were soft and delicate and served with peas and ham. It was an
absolute triumph. So incredibly simple, but with such delicious
flavour combinations, it was perfect. The light, summery taste of
the peas worked very well with the sweetbreads and even though I
don't like mint in savoury dishes, it was nice to have a little in
there just helping to lift the dish further. The broth was simple
and worked with the ingredients rather than overpowering them as
sauces can sometimes be guilty of. Along with a side order of greens
(£3.70), it all felt pretty healthy too!
Gavin went for the
brill (£22.50) and I'll admit that if I had been served it, I would
have been disappointed, but then I came to St John for the meat, not
the fish. He had a decent chunk of perfectly cooked fish, served on
the bone and Gav was happy with his choice. There was a salad of chicory which was pretty bitter and took some work from Gav to finish.
By this point I was
pretty stuffed and I was eyeing up the apple sorbet and Polish vodka
as a refreshing dessert, but the Eccles cake & Lancashire cheese
(£6.80) was calling me. It's their signature dessert and after a
bit of gentle persuasion from the waiter I went for it. Thinking
about it, this is actually a really obvious dessert choice for me.
It was flaky pastry, salty cheese and a few currents, what's not to
love about that combination? Of course I enjoyed and, of course I
was defeated. Writing this up I regret declining the offer of a
doggy bag as I could easily eat a whole serving right now, maybe next
time we'll stick to one starter each so that I have room for my
dessert.
Gav went for the
chocolate slice (£7.50) which was another triumph. Thick, dense,
rich chocolate served with soured cream and dates was beautiful.
Again the flavour combinations were spot on a mouthful of all three
elements was a delight, although the chocolate slice on its own would
have been a more than sufficient dessert.
We'd had a fantastic
evening. From start to finish, there isn't one thing that
displeased. The service had been very good, our waiter was lovely,
chatty and helpful. He'd been there when needed, but not in our
faces. The atmosphere was great with the restaurant packed with both
large groups and couples, all chatting, laughing and generally
enjoying themselves.
For a restaurant with a
star it was great to keep our wine on our table (and be able to pour
the damn thing ourselves), to not be afraid of making a mess
(remember the tablecloths were paper) and to pay the reasonable sum
of £127.80 for the privilege.
I highly recommend this to anyone who loves food, proper food. It was truly excellent and we will be back for more.
***
On our waiter's
recommendation we headed over to
The
Zetter Townhouse bar after our meal. This is an amazing little
place. Walking inside you feel as though you're walking into a posh
(very posh) house party or some gentleman's club. It was very cosy
and we were too late to grab a table, but a stool at the bar was good
enough for us (and it gave us a great view of the cocktail makers at
work). It also meant that we didn't have to wait long for our
drinks. I had a gin martini (what else?!) made with Beefeater 24.
Gav had a cocktail, I forget which. Both were good, and for £20.50
they'd have to be! Ouch! The bill stung, but it was our first taste
of 'London prices' (up until now we thought the prices had been
pretty similar to those found in Sheffield) and it was a bit of a
treat so the sting didn't linger too long.
Back in Kings Cross we
hunted down the
Euston Tap.
This is a tiny little bar/pub with a huge array of beers, including
many Thornbridge ales, which, as a Sheffielder, was pleasing to see.
Watch out though as beer snobbery is rife here, to the point that
when I complained that my wine glass smelt of antiseptic the
bartender wouldn't smell it, claiming that he 'knew nothing about
wine'. What-e-ver! He changed it anyway. Gav enjoyed a half of
something with a stupid alcohol content and we both enjoyed sitting
outside watching the buses come and go from the bus station. It was
what it was, a watering hole and as I'm not a beer fanatic I didn't
fully appreciate it, although I am thinking that it's probably about
time I got into this real ale lark...
