London 2013

With a birthday so soon after Christmas it's easy for it to be a bit shit. Previous birthdays have been ruined by exams (I had one the day after my 21st and therefore it was a very sober celebration) and appalling weather (a joint 30th party was poorly attended thanks to some of the worst snow I've seen in my lifetime)... and do not get me started on people claiming that they're having a dry month...!

This year we decided to celebrate with a trip to London... and once again I turned to Twitter for some tips on where to eat (and drink). As ever my lovely followers had lots of excellent suggestions and before long I had a full itinerary for the whole weekend.

Normally I would blog each and every single restaurant, but given that it took me 6 months to finish all my Rome blogs, I'm gonna keep it nice and simple this time. After all, let's face it, you just want to know what I had, whether I liked it and whether the service was any good, yeah?

Quo Vadis

I hadn't even heard of Quo Vadis until it was recommended to me, but on spotting a few gutsy dishes on the menu, I knew it was one for me. There's steak, smoked eel, offal and pies and best of all there's oysters! The best of the land, and the sea - all one one menu.

Given the feel of the menu and the medieval look to the website I was surprised by the smartness of the restaurant. Also with white linen, mirrored walls and some stunning bouquets of flowers (which pumped out some amazing smells throughout the restaurant) it might be surprising to some that this place offers an affordable set menu of three courses for £20.

Sadly we didn't fancy the set menu and we started with oysters (and fizz - it was my birthday!). Deliciously fresh, served with Tabasco, lemon and an onion relish they were a beautiful start to the meal.

Onto mains and I had to have the lamb sweetbreads. I've had bad experiences of sweetbreads in the past (where they've been breaded and deep fried giving them the appearance and texture of a McNugget), but the menu told me that these were accompanied by with black butter and capers so I felt safe ordering them here. And I'm glad that I did. The meat was soft and creamy thanks to the gentle frying in butter and the capers lifted the dish without overpowering it (yes, really, despite the number of capers on the plate).

Gav went for duck and pheasant pie which initially disappointed (it was a casserole with a lid). However he soon came round on tasting it. The filling was tasty, rich and packed with plenty of meat and the pastry was incredibly good; so buttery that we agreed that a full pie of this stuff would have actually been too much, even for us! A side of creamy mash and some shared sprout tops and cabbage completed the meal.

Although quite stuffed I had heard about the St Emilion au chocolat and I managed to persuade Gav that we should share a slice. This was beautiful; rich, creamy with deep chocolatey flavours... I've hunted down the recipe and suggest you give it a go if you can't make the trip to Quo Vadis.

Service was efficient and friendly and we had an enjoyable time here. I'd recommend to anyone who likes gutsy food but wants a smart atmosphere.

St John

I've been here before and we had such a good time that I wanted to return... this time we took friends which means that my recollection of some of the dishes is somewhat lacking (all that gassing you see - it doesn't help this blogging lark).

I started with an octopus salad and we also shared a portion of the bone marrow and parsley salad. These were good, but my main was an absolutely amazing saddle of rabbit with proper, fat as you like, crisp on the outside, soft and tasty on the inside, chips. The rabbit, which was quite pink, had been cooked in garlic and it was served with a strong aioli; it was beautiful and I actually sucked the last of the meat off the bone (in fact I wanted to take the bone home with me...).

For pudding (it is pudding in St John, not dessert, yeah?) I had the Eccles cake and cheese. It was good, but sadly the bottom was burnt... disappointing, but not a deal breaker and I could flake the burnt layer off. We also shared a plate of Madeleines which were light and perfectly formed.

Once again, the simple combinations of flavours and use of good solid ingredients impressed. Sadly the service hadn't been quite as good as it had on our first visit and I think it will  be a while before we return; I have too many other places to try!

Outlaw's Seafood and Grill at The Capital

Nathan Outlaw seems like a nice chap, doesn't he? Since first seeing him on Great British Menu and the like, I've wanted to eat at his restaurant. Sadly Cornwall is a bit too far for me to go for dinner, so I was pleased to hear that he was opening up a London outpost. I'll admit that it still didn't make 'the list' until I read one of Nathan's tweets promoting a reasonably priced lunch menu (£25 for 3 courses); after spending a small fortune on food in Edinburgh I've just gone off the idea of paying up to £30 on a main (this isn't a dig at the a la carte by the way, just an explanation of where I am at the moment).

We started the meal very comfortably with drinks at the bar where we were free to make our menu choices and go through to the dining room when we were ready. The dining room is pretty formal. Its decor is simple with sandy coloured furnishings and a couple of canvases with seahorses hanging on the walls; the only nod to the source of the ingredients used here.

Given we were on the set lunch menu we were surprised to start with an amuse bouche. Simple, but tasty the fish cakes were an appreciated start to the meal.

Onto starters and as I've been impressed with a few soups I've had recently (it's good to see what a chef will do with such a simple dish), I couldn't resist the cauliflower soup with salt cod and curry oil. The cod had been prepared and seared in such a way that it replicated a scallop (at least that was my take on the dish), the soup was tasty and the curry oil added flavour without overpowering the delicate cauliflower.

Gav had the crispy egg which came with leeks, watercress and blue cheese. He assures me that it tasted as good as it looked.

Mackerel is my all time favourite fish so I was glad to see it had crept (swam?) onto the lunch menu (it wasn't on the website version) and I had to have it. Two fillets of very well cooked fish were served with mushrooms and some parsley dumplings. It looked fantastic and it didn't disappoint my taste buds either.

Gav had another stunning main with sea bream served with a Jerusalem artichoke puree. Again, the cooking was spot on and he enjoyed the dish.

I very rarely see cheese as a dessert option on a set menu (certainly not without a surcharge being applied) and I was impressed to see one here. I was even more impressed by the size of the serving. The cheeses were good; there was stickiness, stinkiness and real strength of flavour on the plate. It was my kind of cheese board.

Gav has more of a sweet tooth than I and he went for carrot cake with dark chocolate mousse. A strange combination, but he was happy enough!.

The meal was rounded off with another freebie; this time some handmade chocolates which more than satisfied any craving I had for sweetness after my savoury dessert.

We left feeling rather pleased with ourselves. The food had been pretty special, the wine (an Australian Riesling) was all I wanted in a Riesling and the service had been spot on. Two ladies looked after us and they were both chatty and friendly whilst maintaining a professional approach and ensuring that our glasses did not run dry. I highly recommend this (more specifically the lunch menu) for anyone after something special without breaking the bank.

Polpo, Smithfield

I had wanted to eat at Polpo since reading about it on Essex Eating. It's Venetian style eating with cicchetti and the like. Think Spanish tapas, but with Italian food. Sadly our visit was ever so slightly hampered by the fact that we were both absolutely hammered and I don't remember much...

We sat at the bar, we had squid and meatballs (amongst who knows what else), we had a litre of white wine (on the basis that we could) and we paid the bill twice. Yep. We asked for the bill, and paid the bill, twice. Thankfully our mistake was spotted by one of the servers and it was quickly rectified with a refund to the card, but oh my, that could have been one expensive dinner!

Needless to say we decided to go home at that point....

Duck Soup

After getting incredibly drunk the night before, it's hardly surprising that we skipped breakfast the next day. And, as we made our way to Duck Soup I was a little nervous about the idea of working my way through a meal...

Duck Soup is a tiny place with a long bar (with seating for those after a quick bite) and a few wooden tables with a mix of chairs and stools. Decor is simple with white walls, painted, but bare light-bulbs, shelves of old wine bottles and classroom style furniture (check out this article for some pictures - Sheffield readers may note a similarity in the decor to Tamper). There's a record player in the corner and we were encouraged to pick our own music. We declined, on the basis that we were happy with the current choice and we felt that our alcohol ridden bodies would cause us to slip whilst changing the record resulting in both ruined vinyl and stylus.

Our server was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. He explained that dishes would come flying out of the kitchen as and when as they don't do the whole three courses thing and the menu is split into Bar (or nibbles), Kitchen £7 (or starters) and Kitchen £14 (or mains) and we ordered a smattering covering each section.

First to hit the table was Finocchiona. A decent serving of chunky slices of salami packed with porky fat. Lovely.

Next was a dish that I probably will never forget; red onion, blood orange and marjoram salad. Yes it was simple and yes it had been done before, but I'd never had it. It was refreshing and tasty and something I have  already replicated at home (although I use peeled segments of the orange, finely sliced red onion and fresh thyme).

Deep fried salsify with rosemary and salt was soft and comforting with the lightest of batters.

Duck hearts with gremolata on toast was quite a large portion, and the hearts themselves were a lot larger than I expected. Perfectly cooked and pink in the centre the hearts were good whilst the gremolata lifted the rich flavours a little.

Cabrito Goat Meat supply Duck Soup and I've chatted with owner James Whetlor on Twitter a fair bit, so I was pleased to see their kid ragu pappardelle on the menu. And in case anyone is questioning the ethics of eating kid, the reasons for eating it are the same as those for eating British veal. Male kids are the by-product of the goat dairy industry and are either killed at birth or bred for meat... and I prefer the latter of the two options. For more on this read this Guardian article.

Anyway... onto the dish. Parppardelle looked like it was made in house and the fat strands of fresh pasta had texture and a little bite. The sauce was light, letting the kid meat do the talking. And how can I describe the meat? Well it was like veal  in terms of its texture and colour and it was a little like rabbit in taste; I really enjoyed it.

Crispy ox tongue with oysters and horseradish initially arrived sans fiery vegetable, but on realising the omission the chef came running out and grated some onto the dish. Ok, ideally the chef wouldn't have forgotten the horseradish at all, but it was good to see that he cared enough to admit the mistake and rectify it.

The tongue wasn't prepared as we imagined (I was thinking deep fried chunks of the meat), but it was nice to see it in its (almost) full glory... and it's convinced me that I could actually serve tongue as part of a roast dinner.

We skipped dessert and, due to the hangovers, we had also skipped on the wine which was a shame as Duck Soup have an interesting selection on offer... maybe next time?!

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London 2012 (E)

Heston Blumenthal is a bit like marmite isn't he? You either love him or you hate him. But with The Fat Duck having three Michelin stars and Dinner winning ninth pace in the Top 50 (IN THE WORLD) list, it would seem that more love him rather than hate him. Either way I'm very intrigued by The Fat Duck but, with such a ridiculous waiting list and sky high prices, it’s doubtful that I’ll ever get the chance to eat there.

Anyway… you will recall that I’ve recently been down to London and on browsing the internet shortly after booking St. John and I was reminded of Dinner by Heston (where, from what I can tell it’s actually Ashley Palmer-Watts who does the majority of the cooking). Ok, it's not The Fat Duck, but it's the closest I'm gonna get at the moment, so I booked us in for a late lunch (with the view that we would then spend the afternoon drinking before rolling onto the train home). It was a good plan and after a snack of oysters at Harvey Nicks we headed over to the Manadrin Oriental.

This is one impressive looking hotel. Seriously, it's the grandest building I've ever dined in. Not only is there a man on the door so you don't have to exert yourself opening it yourself, there are two, just in case someone is walking out as someone else is walking in.

The restaurant itself is also pretty special, especially as there’s a wide floor to ceiling window into the kitchen to one side. Tables are bare, chairs are comfy and staff are smiley, warm and welcoming. For a restaurant that has recently been nominated as the best in Britain, I liked the comfortable feel to the place.

However, the prices quickly reminded us where we were and, although we were prepared to spend a small fortune on the food, we had hoped to get away with spending less than £55 on a bottle of Rioja (one of the cheapest bottles on the wine list/book). Having said that, it was damn fine wine and a cheap wine list probably wouldn’t sit comfortably next to this food menu (although I can’t deny that it would sit quite comfortably in my purse!).

The food menu itself needs a mention as it’s beautifully, yet simply presented, in its own little pouch. It reads well too, as each dish is listed with the year it was believed to have been first published, as well as details of that publication.. Food geeks will like the fact that diners are positively encouraged to take the menus away with them. In fact they will also like the fact that one of our, many, waiters approved my request to take pictures of our meal.

I would imagine that everyone reading this review will have already heard of the Meat Fruit, you know that mandarin (fitting given the location) which gave way to a chicken liver parfait on biting into the flesh, the one that some lucky celebs got to sample on the recent Heston’s Feasts series. Well, it was our time to try it and we ordered this to share along with a starter each (and far from making us feel like fat pigs, the waiter’s reaction on taking our order told us that three starters between two diners is pretty standard here).

Unfortunately, sharing the dish meant that we couldn’t fully indulge by picking the fruit up and taking a bite into the sumptuous flesh; instead it was my knife that had that delight. Nevertheless, eaten off the ‘grilled bread’ (why the menu couldn’t say toast I’m not sure!) or straight from the fork, it was superb. The chicken liver parfait was ice cool, beautifully smooth and creamy and the jellied mandarin skin added both texture and flavour.

On looking at the menu before arriving, I had thought I would go with the Hay Smoked Mackerel, but the mention of veal sweetbreads in the Broth of Lamb dish swayed me and I went for that instead. Unfortunately, my heart sank when the dish arrived. Soft and gentle veal sweetbreads had been ruined by a breadcrumb coating and a spell in the deep fat fryer. Two words; chicken nuggets. I’ve seen this once before in a local Sheffield restaurant, I didn’t like it then, and I didn’t like it in the ninth best restaurant in the world. Why anyone would do that to something so delicate in texture and flavour is totally beyond me.

Thankfully the poached egg sat in the middle of the broth was soft and gentle and the yolk oozed into the tasty lamb broth on breaking it, adding richness to the dish. The small bites of veg within the broth still had crunch and were fresh tasting. Overall, the dish was fine. To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever get over the veal ‘chicken nuggets’ sweetbreads and looking back over the menu I cannot believe I gave up that mackerel.

Gav fared better with Rice & Flesh; in fact he still bangs on about it now (to the point that he is getting a bit annoying). With such a scary name, you might be surprised to learn that this dish is a relatively harmless one of saffron risotto with calf tail cooked in red wine. Eating in the ninth best restaurant in the world, it probably goes without saying that Gav declared this to be the best risotto he’d ever had. The meat was melt in the mouth tender and the red wine added a touch of sharpness to it, cutting through the richness a little.

With a stonking range of red meat dishes on offer for the mains, I was spoiled for choice. Fillet of Aberdeen Angus, Hereford Ribeye, Spiced Pigeon and Powdered Duck Breast all screamed out to me. I actually quite fancied the Made Dish of Parmesan too, simply because I love this cheese, but of course I was never really gonna go for it. Not wanting to come to the ninth best restaurant in the world and end up having a steak, I went for the duck whilst Gav went for the pigeon.

Duck was Powdered Duck Breast served with smoked confit fennel and umbles. The portion was huge, well maybe huge is stretching it alittle, but for a restaurant of this standard, it was large… not that I was complaining. The duck was tasty and perfectly pink, the only thing it lacked was a crispy skin. However I hear that the duck is cooked for nine hours so maybe the lack of crisp was intentional. Smoked fennel was lovely, cooked to the point of creaminess. The strong aniseed flavours had subdued a little on cooking which worked for me. Umbles were duck hearts and as a lover of offal, they were a welcome addition to my plate.

Gav’s pigeon was Spiced Pigeon, served with artichokes. It was another decent sized portion and the meat was cooked very well; in fact it was the best Gav has ever had (he had a few ‘best evers’ at Dinner). The meat wasn’t overly gamey which was good for us and the artichoke hearts were also good. We had a side of lettuce with peas which was good, but not really needed given the three starters and the sizes of the mains.

Onto desserts and it was my turn to have a ‘best ever’. Poached Rhubarb was served with rosehip jam and rhubarb sorbet. It looked stunning and with so many perfectly executed elements to the dish, it was an absolute delight to eat! Pieces of rhubarb were cut into sections meaning that I was saved the trouble of slicing the stuff (and although cutting rhubarb is hardly a great hardship, it can be a bit tricky given how stringy it is, and this is well cooked – i.e. not a stewed mess). Topping the fruit (or is it technically a vegetable) were pieces of intensely flavoured freeze dried rhubarb and some rhubarb flecked sugar work. Amazing. And that was only half the story as to the other side of the plate was a decent dollop of rhubarb sorbet sitting on top a crown of sour, soft meringues and some rosehip jam. Sticking out of the sorbet was a strip of rhubarb which had been dried to the point that it looked like a piece of bamboo. Loved it.

Gav went for the Quaking Pudding served with pear, perry, caramel and lime. In this Guardian article Heston claims that on creating the dish he was aiming to make something with the texture of a warm crème brulee and jelly and he’s cracked it. It was beautiful, with a smooth texture and jelly like quake to it. The recipe is included in that article too and I think I might well have a go at it one day…

The meal was rounded off with a little chocolate ganache served with a cardamom pastry. Maybe the post dessert dessert is the new amuse bouche and as a freebie, it was appreciated, especially as it was bloody gorgeous. Chocolate was smooth and rich and the cardamom pastry was an interesting accompaniment. 

By the time we’d finished the restaurant was almost empty (the downside to a late booking), so we declined the option to have coffee, paid our bill (which was a bit of a stinger to be fair) and headed back to Kings Cross to meet friends for drinks before rolling onto that train as planned.

So ninth best in the world and best in Britain? Hmm, I’m not sure. Of course it’s all very subjective and any ‘best’ list should be read with caution, but, well it was good (very good) but I’ve had better (or at least as good) in Britain – Sat Bains and St John for a start. Having said that Gav preferred Dinner to both of those and would probably go as far as saying that it is the best restaurant he’s eaten at in Britain.

Would I recommend it? Errrr, yeah, without a shadow of a doubt. Will I return? Probably not, but only because it was really pricy and there are lots of other restaurants to try (Fat Duck for one).

Fifth Floor, Harvey Nichols, London 2012 (D)

After a busy day on the Saturday we were both grateful of a later than usual check out on the Sunday (12 noon) and a bit of a lie in. However, this did also mean that we didn’t leave the hotel (Novotel at St Pancras btw – recommended – great décor and ideally located next to the station so that we didn’t have to lug our bags far) until about 11am. This then meant that there wasn’t really much time to take a trip to Islington for breakfast at Ottolenghi considering we needed to be hungry for Dinner at 2.30.

So we decided to head over to Knightsbridge for a spot of shopping in Harrods and Harvey Nichols. Of course, that only kept us occupied for a limited period and in the end, we just had to give into our pangs of hunger. 

The Fifth Floor of Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge ain’t a bad place to be when you’re hungry. Along with a fine selection of produce for sale there’s a restaurant and a champagne bar and on spotting that said champagne bar also served oysters we were sold. Champagne and oysters is pretty luxurious, especially in the middle of Knightsbridge! More importantly, they would satiate our hunger a little without spoiling our appetite for Dinner.

6 oysters came with mini chorizo, a shallot sauce, tabasco and lemon.  Oysters were fresh (although a little on the small size) and chorizo was delicious (although we did assume that they were not to be used as a garnish for the oysters).

Champagne, of course, was delicious.

Having said that the bill, for 6 oysters and 2 glasses of champagne, was close to £50, but then Fifth Floor is a far cry from the last place I had a plate of oysters; Castle Market where the offerings are larger and a lot cheaper (95p each).

But this was a treat, a good treat.

St. John Bar and Restaurant, London 2012 (C)

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...

A bit of shopping at Borough Market and Harrods Food Hall London 2012 (B)

After lunch at Dishoom, we ventured over to Borough Market. It had been recommended to me on Twitter, and our waitress had also said it was good for a wander.

Unfortunately the place was absolutely heaving and on entering, we just felt as though we'd joined one huge queue. So we just had a bit of a wander and although I would have loved to have bought some produce, it was just too busy and I didn't want to be left carting stuff around with me. I'm still glad we made the trip though as we are now thinking that we might stay self catering next time so that we can take advantage of the markets.

Here's a few pictures of the produce on offer.

Wild Garlic

Cheese

Poultry

This we had to try!

British Veal from The Ginger Pig

Chillies!

Twitter had also recommended that I visit a couple of pubs in the area, including The Rake and Market Porter, but the area was swamped with people and we were keen to get out! Also, there were more queues to get into places, including a massive queue for Monmouth, which I now understand I should have joined just to sample their coffee.

At the opposite end of the scale, we also ventured in the Harrods Food Hall on the Sunday morning and here are a few more pictures.

CHEESE!!

PIES!

The largest (and most expensive) piece of ham I have ever seen!

Sushi

Dishoom, Covent Garden, London 2012 (A)

On arriving in London pretty early on Saturday morning (about half ten) we were completely free of plans. Yes, I'd booked us dinner for both Saturday and Sunday, I hadn't given much though to what we would do in-between eating! So, after a quick nibble of some fine meats and a vino in Camino, we jumped on the tube to Covent Garden for a wander around.

Dishoom was recommended to me for breakfast, but having breakfasted in India, I wasn't all that bothered about an English breakfast stuffed into a naan. The rest of the menu, however, did appeal. I still hadn't purposely set out to eat here, but I spotted it in the corner of my eye just as we decided it was time for lunch. With rumbling bellies and a desire to avoid the chains we went for it.

The restaurant was busy and I was surprised (and pleased) to see groups of Indian diners (Indian born Indians at that), as, yes this is an Indian restaurant, but with those breakfast butties, I wouldn't have thought it was targeting that market.

We treated the menu as a tapas menu and picked a few dishes to share along with a couple of cocktails. Yes it was lunchtime and yes we had a long day ahead of us, but with names such as bollybellini, it was hard to resist temptation.

As I'm a lover of martinis and chilli, I had to go for the chilli martini. It looked good, but with the promise of a bit of a kick, I was disappointed to find that it was so heavy on the pomegranate that the cocktail lacked of any kick of either alcohol or chilli. Gav's chaijito, however, was a real success. Made with chai infused rum it was packed with warming spices, but lifted by the fresh mint.

Food wise I had decided to be 'good' and went for the spicy sweet paneer tikka salad (£6.90). It was a decent serving and there was plenty of fresh herbs in there including coriander and mint, but I was disappointed by the paneer; there wasn't much and it wasn't particularly spicy or sweet. Meh, it helped me on my way to achieving my five a day.

I had to go for the calamari (£5.20) and, although it was a little overcooked for my liking, I enjoyed the sweet syrup served with it making the dish a success.

Gav had ordered desi fish fingers (£4.20) and although the menu hadn't given any indication of what we should expect, I had expected something akin to Bird's Eye fish fingers, just with added spice, but we were served finger sized pieces of masala fish. Again I was disappointed, especially as the fish was pretty dry.

Chilli cheese toast was pretty bland (£3.20), with nowhere near enough chilli. It was cold too.

House black daal (£4.70), however, was superb. Really tasty and I enjoyed mopping it up with the perfectly light roti (£1.70).

We'd been served some chutneys shortly after ordering, and a bit before the food arrived, and although they were tasty (especially the garlic and chilli offering, which, unlike anything else we'd had, really did pack a punch) we hadn't been served anything to have with them. It was like a pickle tray without the popadoms; bizarre.

So, most of the dishes disappointed, but strangely, I would happily go back. I'm not sure how or why, but I'd managed to have a really good meal. Service had been friendly, efficient and easy, the atmosphere was great (really informal), the place looked good and the prices were right too.

I'd recommend Dishoom to others too and tell them to have the daal and the calamari, but avoid the chilli cheese on toast and the fish fingers.