Category: UK

Dinner at the Turner Contemporary – Margate through the looking glass

As far as catering is concerned, Art Galleries have been upping their game for a while now. The Portrait at The National Gallery and Rex Whistlers at the Tate being long standing examples of successful Gallery Restaurants in London. So a visit to the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate gave us the chance to try this new gallery cafe, which offers Afternoon Tea by the Sea and is open for Dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings.

I have to say it was with some trepidation that we headed for Margate, which is my least favourite Kent coastal town, one that still has a long way to go on its regeneration/gentrification process as our walk through the town testified. The shed like art gallery right on the harbour is not the most attractive of architectural structures in our view, its real charm is from the inside looking out, especially when the weather and lighting is as lovely as it was on our visit. The gallery is smaller than we expected with typically two or three exhibits per room, you can do the rounds easily in 15 minutes (OK maybe half an hour). The views from the Foyer when the light is right are nothing short of stunning.

So what about the Restaurant? or should I say Cafe? On Friday and Saturday evenings a white table clothed section is set up at the front of the gallery cafe consisting of about 8 tables. It seems a bit incongruous when you first enter, but as you are seated by the courteous and professional staff and offered your complementary glass of Prosecco, you soon find yourself relaxing in what is effectively half a glass box overlooking the beach. The tables are all fairly close together and the acoustics do mean that you can hear bits of conversations from the other diners, which is normally a negative for me. However it did not detract on our visit as most conversations were about the view and there was a very relaxed atmosphere as diners regularly got up to go to the window to take photographs. The horse’s galloping along the beach and the sunset being two of the more photogenic moments.

The menu which apparently changes ever week was simple but inviting. The service levels, presentation and quality of the dishes go far in the process of elevating the gallery cafe to a fine dining establishment. It’s not there yet, but it does have the potential.

We got off to a good start with a generous portion of home baked very light cake like focaccia bread. I then ordered the Scallops and Heirloom Tomatoes spiced with Cumin, which worked well. The Tomatoes nicely complimenting the Scallops. I followed this with the meat option – saddle of Lamb wrapped Pancetta, served with Pomme Puree, a tasty dish that I enjoyed with a nice large glass of Merlot.

My companion had the Carpaccio of Courgettes with Mozzarella and Basil which was ideal for the weather, light, simple and tasty. He followed this with the Turbot and Girolles Mushrooms in a red wine jus. We then went on to share a plate of British cheeses and the Passion Fruit Cheesecake dessert. There were some rough edges and missed opportunities here. The cheese plate for example was far from impressive and adding some withered grapes was a no no – if it’s not right don’t put it on the plate! The other missed opportunity is one that is not rectifiable. It is the location of the restaurant – no, not the fact it is in Margate, but the fact it is on the corner of the building and as such fails to provide the full panoramic view of the beach and harbour to all the diners.

We were very lucky on our visit with the weather, which added an extra element to the ambience but I do wonder if the fine dining aspect will survive through the winter months. I really hope it gets the support it deserves from the local residents.

 

 

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Foodies Festival @ Battersea Park

This years London Foodies Festival was in Battersea Park. We arrived just after 10 am, the tickets and web site (initially) showed that as the event start time.   Our plan had been to get in early before the crowds.  However the festival was not able to start until 11 am due to some sort of mix up with the local council – not a good start.   So we killed some time in the parks cafe (definitely not a foodies destination) and returned to pick up entrance tickets for some of the events in the Chefs Theatre, Food Theatre and Drinks Theatre, only to be advised we could only get tickets for the earlier events and not those later in the day, we had to come back to the Registrations tent nearer the start times to get these tickets  – a totally impractical option. On entering the festival area we passed the Pimms Tent with its cute “Its Pimms O’Clock” picnic blankets laid out on the grass, and found ourselves accepting an invitation to try some of the Coeur de Cognac in the comfort of the Remy Martin Pagodo.

The festival was not especially large, the one at Hampton Court last year felt larger and had seemed more specialist food oriented.   We ended up sampling a couple of rums – a coconut one (Koko Kanu) from Jamaica and a lovely smooth Arehucas Honey Rum from the Canary Islands.  Then after a long chat with Chocolatier Fiona Sciolti who was presenting one of the afternoon sessions we had originally planned to go to, we headed down to the Chefs Theatre for Jun Tanaka’s cookery demonstration.

That went well, with Jun Tanaka producing three dishes in less than 40 minutes. Afterwards we were certainly ready to have something to eat.

The food on offer was not that inviting – except for the rather nice charcuterie plates being served up in the Harvey Nichols Foodmarket Marquee which we spotted after we had eaten (isn’t that always the way!).

We did find some gems though among the exhibitors, like the beautifully presented cake selection from The Little Round Cake Company and the huge selection of speciality breads from McCarthy’s.  The highlight however had to be Mr Ducks Delicacies at the 1Chef4u stand where we sampled some lovely smooth and sumptuous Fois Gras and some delicious Duck Rillette.

The next session we attended in the Food Theatre was totally disorganised with real confusion over who had tickets and who did not, since some were collected on the door and other collected at the tables. So that sort of put us off attending any more events.

Having already been round all the stands once, we decided  to call it a day and returned to the 1Chef4u stand to buy some of the lovely duck delicacies, picked up some bread from McCarthy’s and a chilled bottle of Bochet-Lemoine Champagne and headed home to have our own picnic.

The festival this year I have to say was not a patch on the last Foodies event I attended. Indeed the most enjoyable stands were selling goods that I could just as easily have found at a decent Farmers Market (or in the case of  Mr Ducks Delicacies on line), rather than at a ticketed event.  It’s definitely was not worth the £15 full ticket price or even dare I say the two for one deal. So I am afraid this is one event I probably won’t put on my calendar for next year. Sadly this is not the only food and drinks festival I have been disappointed with over the last year or so, Taste of London, Toast – New Zealand and La Dolce Vita did not hit the mark either.

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Launceston Place – Impressive

So many reviews of Launceston Place ask the same question. Why does it not have a Michelin Star?.  It is a mystery, as Launceston Place has it all.  An attractive location, first rate service and some rather impressive cooking.

This was our second visit, the first time was 2 years ago when we indulged in the tasting menu. This time we were determined to stick to the set lunch.

I could not help but compare the set lunch here with last months set lunch at the Michelin starred William Drabble. At William Drabble’s I felt that the set lunch had been well under par (inferior cooking and ingredients). It did nothing to showcase that restaurant.  In stark contrast Launceston Place pulled out all the stops.  Providing lots of extras – the home made crisps to start, a small loaf of bread with pickled herring, a lemon posset pre dessert and little lemon sponges at the end of the meal. The only negative here was that it was hard not to make a mess when eating the bread.

Then there was the meal itself.  We started with a vibrant green watercress soup with smoked eel and poached quail eggs and a warm heirloom tomato salad with home made ewes curd. However  it was the main courses that stood out. I had the Mackerel which was quite lovely, both in respect of presentation and taste. My companion had the duck, which he enjoyed so much more than the duck dish he had at Heston Blumentals Dinner earlier this year. To go with these dishes we had a side order of Jersey Royal New Potatoes, they were smothered in butter, perfectly cooked with that wonderful earthy taste that epitomises Jersey Royals – just fabulous.

For dessert we both had the Treacle Tart with creme fraiche ice cream, very nice – especially when accompanied by a generous glass of PX. We were so pre occupied talking with the Sommelier about the history and variety of PX sherries that we forgot to photograph the tart, which was quite pretty before we demolished it.

Marks out of 10

Food 7.5

Service 7.3

Ambience 7.1

 

UPDATE: April 2012 – There is now a new head chef at Launceston Place – see Press Release

UPDATE : September 2012, Lauceston Place has finally been awarded a  Michelin Star.

UPDATE: October 2016, Lauceston Place no longer has a Michelin Star.

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Trinity – Not So Common

My first thought on entering Trinity on the edge of Clapham Common, was that with its full length windows designed to open up onto the pavement,  it would be a great place to go to in the Summer.  Then I remembered it was Summer (the British weather can be deceptive that way).

The restaurant was full on our visit for Sunday Lunch with what looked like lots of well heeled local residents. It’s a popular place and I can certainly understand why people are happy to spend lots of money, eating and drinking here.  It’s a very relaxing venue, the food is good and the service is friendly. I did find it a bit schizophrenic though, not quite hitting the mark as a fine dining restaurant but delivering a lot more than your typical brunch/lunch spot.

The look of the place, the service (on the surface), the food presentation (if not the portion size) are fine dining standard. It’s just not quite there, the portions are too large for one thing and we had a couple of minor issues with the service, just little things like clumsy cutlery layout, our bottle of wine being a bit too far away and glasses not being kept topped up as well as they could be, that and running out of towels in the bathroom.

The menu was a real mix to, with Summer and Winter fare as well as brunch and lunch style dishes. Ironically the Summer/Winter aspect was not a great problem as the weather outside was in keeping.

We had an amuse bouche that consisted of a hummus dip with radishes and fresh garden peas in their pods and some warm homemade bread. Then for starters my companion had the Fried Ducks Egg with Scottish Girolles, English Mustard Mayonnaise and Toasted Brioche – a sort of up market big breakfast, matched with a glass of Wild Boy Chardonnay – kinda of weird, but it worked. I had 1/2 dozen Oxtail stuffed Snails with garlic butter and soldiers – a nicely presented brunch type dish that was a bit awkward to eat, but very tasty none the less.

For my main course I had the Belly of Old Spot Pork, Charred Spring Onions, Gooseberries, Jerseys and Crackling – the portion was huge, but fortunately the pork was nice and light and the Gooseberries refreshing, so I had no problem finishing it off.  My companions main course was even more substantial, he ordered Braised Lamb Shoulder Faggot which came with a rather large pot of Pearl Barley, Peas and Mint – very rustic, and definitely not what you expect on a Summer menu.

For dessert we had the Cherry Bakewell Tart and the English Strawberries, Vanilla cream and Ginger biscuits accompanied by a rather nice bottle of Moscato d’Asti.

I have had Trinity on my wish list for a while, I always thought it was a bit out of the way – multiple tube changes or train and taxi, but I was really pleased to discover that it was actually on my local bus route, door to door in 15 minutes, which is really encouraging as this is a really good venue for a lazy Sunday Lunch. One I am happy to return too.

Marks out of 10

Food 6.7

Service 6.1

Ambience 6.9

 

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Roux at Parliament Square – The return (Closed)

This was my second visit to Roux at Parliament Square.  My previous visit here was not typical, in that it involved indulging in the tasting menu and matching wines in the Private Dining Room, so I thought it would be interesting to see how the set lunch menu held up. £25.00 for 3 courses plus coffee and petit fours is an excellent deal for this sort of venue.  Booking via Top Table also enhanced the deal to included complementary glasses of champagne on arrival apparently – although when I reviewed my Top Table account later it said 3 courses with a bottle of filtered water, so we definitely got  the better deal 😉

Ironically although the set menu looked quite inviting, we were seduced by the a la carte menu, so did not actually end up going down the cheaper route as planned.

Every dish we ordered was beautifully presented and the meal included all those little extra’s I love in a fine dining establishment, the selection of canapés, the amuse bouche, the pre dessert and the petit fours.  OK so it cost more than twice as much as the set menu, but at least the excellent range of reasonably priced wine by the glass (typically between £5.00 and £7.00 a glass) kept the price down.

The Restaurant does not as yet have a Michelin star, but I would be very surprised if that was not in the pipe line. Roux at Parliament Square certainly has all the ingredients.

Marks out of 10

Food 6.9

Service 6.8

Ambience 6.5

 

 

 

UPDATE Feb 2013 – MasterChef winner Steve Groves is now the head chef  – see article.

UPDATE Dec 2020 – Now closed

 

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Chor Bizarre – eclectic Indian cuisine

Our visit to Chor Bizarre in Mayfair was by invitation, and we were totally spoilt.  Having the opportunity to try several of the dishes on the rather eclectic menu, which covers feasts like the famous Kashmiri Wazwam, South Indian Tiffin, the quintessential Indian street food Chaat, along with other well known Indian dishes.  I am going to have to use the word eclectic a lot as that very much sums up Chor Bizarre. The decor is both stylish and eclectic (and some of it is even for sale). The  food is equally eclectic covering several Indian regions, we ordered a fairly mixed range of dishes.  Sambar, Gazab ka tikka, a lovely mild dish with very moist chicken marinated in cheese and cream that is also served in Chor Bizarre’s New Delhi branch.  Dakshni crab cakes, light and as spicy as advertised, Lamb Rogan Josh, Pepper Scallops, Baghara Baingan and Palak Makkai a rather delicious spinach dish.

The restaurant has an extensive wine list which they are happy to match to your food, something I always struggle with in Indian restaurants.  For a useful guide on pairing see Charles Metcalfe’s Chor Bizarre Wine and Food matches. We had a nice bottle of Castillo de Clavijo Rioja Crianza, which only really worked with the milder dishes.

I very much wanted to try their Tandoori pineapple dessert, but alas after our feast I had no room, I just managed to fit in some mango sorbet and a nice glass of dessert wine.

Chor Bizarre which translates as Thieves Market has a nice relaxing buzz to it, on our visit it comfortably handled groups, couples and single dinners.

I have indulged at top London Indian restaurants like Benares and The Cinnamon Club, and dined at numerous less expensive establishments. My favorites include places like Dockmasters House,  Cafe Spice Namaste and The Mint Leaf, and now I can happily add Chor Bizarre to that number.

Chor Bizarre is managed by Old World Hospitality.  They have several restaurants in London including one of my favorites Tamarai in Drury Lane.

Marks out of 10

Food 6.5

Service 6.5

Ambience 6.3

 

 

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