Category: UK

La Dolce Vita

La Dolce Vita , the annual Italian festival at the Business Design Centre in Islington is a celebration of all things Italian. Which off course includes Food and Wine.

The ticket price on the door is £16.00, but really this is only an event you would only do if you got free tickets. The layout was not very effective, all the busy stands (the ones giving away food and drink samples) were generally in areas where there was barely space for one row of people – a recipe for instant traffic jams.

The cookery displays in the Teatro del Gusto looked interesting.   I was certainly looking forward to attending the one Theo Randall was scheduled to do. The seating was free (accept for the front row, so seemed like an option.  No chance! – the small area was packed even before Theo’s session. The people from the earlier session were not moving, paying customers even had to have chairs brought in.

The Wine Academy was another wash out for us. Despite directions, we  just could not find where the £5.00 tickets were being sold in time to join the planned session.

No plans to attend next years event.

 

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Almeida – again

I made a return visit to Almeida for a friends birthday celebration (Happy Birthday Chris).  My last visit was during chocolate week, see post:- Almeida – not just for chocoholics

The restaurant is a very popular pre-theatre venue, so it was a bit more difficult on a Saturday night to get a seat in the bar area. The room is fairly large, but perhaps not ideal for big groups, our table was a bit cramped for 8 people.

On the food front the highlight was the charcuterie trolley service, which several of my companions ordered. This is something the Almeida is famous for reviving, it includes home made rillettes, terrines and patés served with homemade pickles and I must say that it provides for a fairly substantial starter. One I wished I had ordered. My venison salad was very nice, but it did not have the wow factor of the trolley service.

For my main course I had the rib eye steak with lovely fluffy pommes pont neuf – certainly the best Jenga chips I have had for a while!

The rest of the menu was fairly classic for this type of venue, it included oysters, duck, beef and suckling pig.

To finish the meal I had a surprisingly light pineapple tarte tartin. This dish takes 20 minutes to prepare as it is created from scratch – its worth the wait.

UPDATE : March 2010 – made a return visit and ordered from the charcuterie trolley; highly recommended.

 

 

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Delfina – Sunday Opening

Due to popular demand the Delfina Restaurant is now open on Sundays for Lunch, and being pushed as a venue to relax, eat, drink and enjoy reading the Sunday papers.

It was not too popular on our visit, there were only about 12 people in the Restaurant, but a few of them were managing to read the Sunday papers!  Something that surprised me based on the speed of the service.

The place really needs to be busier to get a buzz going, as being located in a gallery space does make the restaurant a bit stark/cold.  However going by the number of people passing by and checking out the menu, the potential is here.

The Sunday menu is off the usual standard for Delfina’s, i.e., good well cooked comfort food. We started with the Ham hock terrine which was accompanied by very refreshing and tasty pickled spring cabbage, followed by Lamb and beautifully cooked vegetables. We finished with the cheese course (one between two is plenty).

The staff seem inexperienced, but they are enthusiastic and friendly.  My main complaint, and it is not a major one,  is that the service is a little too quick.  It would have been nice to relax between courses, “maybe read a newspaper” and not be in and out in an hour.

Marks out of 10

Food 5.4

Service 5

Ambience 4

UPDATE – May  2013 : Relaunched as Tanner & Co – for more information see Big Hospitality Article.

 

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Dog & Fox – less is more

The Dog & Fox is a well known and long standing Youngs Pub in the heart of Wimbledon Village, with a separate restaurant.  Their web site highlights the chefs Pacific Rim influences (interesting), but shows a very British Pub style food menu (not so interesting).

The entrance via the Pub, past the bouncer, is off-putting, but fortunately there is also a side entrance that takes you directly to the restaurant. The room is warm and nicely decorated.

On our visit, I found there were more negatives than positives here:-

1. All the prices on the menu had been tippexed out (an indication of  a recent and unjustified price increase in my opinion  – £19.30 for a lamb chop!  – see review for Coq d’Argent, where my excellent  3 course lunch in a vastly superior venue cost less).

2. The Salsa and Relishes provided with some of the dishes were really OTT.  The Salsa I had with my Thai Chicken cakes (Chicken Rissoles) for example consisted of a small bowl containing huge chunks of tomatoes with red onion and chilli – I could not eat it, it just killed my taste buds. One of my companions had the burger which was nicely cooked, but accompanied by another completely OTT Relish containing way too much garlic or horseradish. It was so strong you could not tell what it was. The Smoked Haddock was cooked ok as well, but would have been better if the accompanying egg had not been hard boiled.

Basically this was a missed opportunity. The Restaurant has a good room, it’s in an excellent location. It just needs to get it’s act together and be more like a restaurant and less like a bar food area. In it’s current incarnation I do not think it even qualifies as a gastropub!

Marks out of 10

Food 3

Service 3

Ambience 4

 

 

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Coq d’argent – Right on the Money

Coq d’argent is a rather fabulous venue on the roof of Number 1 The Poultry, right in the middle of the Square Mile. Visiting a City restaurant with a roof top garden on a Sunday in January may not be the best timing, but we got a real feel for just how good a location this actually is. In the Winter, when the garden is not in use,  you can appreciate just how well designed this place is and take in the views without being disturbed by the usual cityboy revellers. We had booked a Top Table deal of 3 courses for £19 (the normal 3 course lunch price is £30), and that is where it gets interesting.  Most places cut corners on deals. They do not always seem to appreciate that these deals are an ideal way to showcase the restaurant.  Coq d’argent got it 100% right. At no point did we feel like second class citizens or cheapskates. The set menu had sufficient choices and included top end items like escargot and venison. This actually encouraged us to upgrade our wine choices to something from their selection of fine wines.

The service was friendly and efficient, and the place was buzzing. The Jazz band from the bar area also made a couple of  sorties into the Restaurant to play “happy birthday”, which was certainly entertaining the first time, but maybe not so much the sixth time.  However it is easy to understand why people come here to celebrate.

Marks out of 10

Food 6.7

Service 6.7

Ambience 6.7

 

 

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St Pancras Grand – No Service

We tried the Champagne Afternoon Tea at St Pancras Grand making use of the same half price offer we had used earlier at The Portrait (Normal Price £25.00 per person, with the deal £12.50). Off the two venues The Portrait easily won, with its buzzy atmosphere and friendly service. At the St Pancreas Grand, the room is certainly much grander. However the place was rather lacking in atmosphere and we had no qualms about not paying the discretionary service charge. Main complaints (apart from how dull The Afternoon Tea was) are:-

1. No one to greet us at the door.

2. Room was deserted of waiting staff on more than one occasion.

3. Very curt, disinterested waiter.

4. Getting a Tea Strainer took about 30 minutes and two attempts.

5. No offer of a top up on the tea (although the deal specifically mentioned unlimited tea), and we had 2 teapots between 3 people, so not exactly a fair distribution.

With service like this, if you were planning to catch a train…..you’d miss it!

Marks out of 10

Food 3

Service 2

Ambience 4

 

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