Ahh… Cinnamon Club, what to say? For how long have I coveted the subtle use of spice and traditional flavouring of your Indian Fusion cuisine? (Jess: About a year, since you bought your mum the cookbook). So when, within a matter of hours, both Indy and Imran suggested that we take advantage of London Restaurant Week and go to a top restaurant on a pony how could I possibly resist?
Notwithstanding the company (which was, as always, damn funny) I feel we should have passed up on this one. Here is a brief precis of what we ate, the full details do not add much:
Starter
Jessie, Imran: Some sort of vegetable tikka (it was a while ago, give me a bit of a break)
Indy, Me: Chicken Tikka with mint and mango sauces
Main
Jessie, Imran: Pollack… Rice
Indy, Me: Lamb in an onion and coriander seed sauce, Rice
Dessert
Jessie, Imran, Me (Indy really wanted this as well): Sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream and a banana crisp
Indy: Steamed Yoghurt with fruit
Drink
Free glass of wine (red or white was as far as the description went) or strawberry iced drink, Water.
We also had some cocktails at the bar before and after, a cinnamon Bellini (that Jessie had) stood out.
My description shares something with the meal itself; a not insubstantial disregard for rigour. You have to wonder why a Michelin starred restaurant was going in for this kind of promotion if they were not intending to do it well. Presenting us with three courses that were neither particularly interesting nor well delivered (in either sense of the word) is a curious way of inviting us to return and splash out on the main menu.
Both starters were pretty dull. The chicken was cooked very well though, tender and moist. Just a shame that the marinade and sauces didn’t taste significantly better than many others I’ve eaten (big chicken tikka fan, me). Jessie pointed out that the starter was the most interesting part of the meal. Main course was the same, superbly cooked meat (Indy was salivating) but boring sauce. In addition, both dishes came with a side of rice. When does a restaurant of this quality serve the same accompaniment with two dishes as different as this lamb and pollack?!
Desserts were amateur, service was all over the place. They offered us bread with our starters and then forgot about them. The “blind” wine situation was bizarre, no explanation of what it was before or after it was served. They forgot about us often (with the water, with removing our plates, etc etc).
The room was pretty nice, as it is meant to be. Lots of books gives it a classy look (I’ve slipped on the language front, what can I say, I’m watching Goodfellas) and it would be quite fun to sit on the mezzanine and gaze down on the great and good of Westminster. But from the main menu and preferably both with 1) someone else paying and 2) some other set of people serving.
Round Up
April 15, 2008
SInce I haven’t posted for a while (and am intending to get started again!) here is a round up of some of the places (the ones we can remember!) that we’ve been to since the last post!
Latium (Excellent italian restaurant, Mum’s birthday, stand out dish: risotto with cherry tomatoes, lemon zest, chilli and seafood)
Bacchus (Crazy, Ferran Adria influenced Hoxton place, my Birthday, stand out dish: venison rolled in charcol with “textures” of cauliflower)
Arbutus (Half term lunch, businessman friendly, good wine system (carafes!), stand out dish: smoked eel, roasted beetroot, horseradish cream)
Tom’s Kitchen (Aiken spin off, expensive, poncy Chelsea hangout, roasts on Sunday lunch with Adam)
Lahore Kebab House (Imran and Fatima, Algate punjabi joint, very authentic (Jess, “yummy”), stand out dish: some lamb stuff, roti, very good)
Gilgamesh (Wacky decor (half Egyptian, half Babylonian), Amanda and Anjli, sweet fruity cocktails, sweet fruity main course, sweet fruity dessert)
Morgan M (We got sooooo drunk…, tasting menu with course by course (including dessert) wine and a starter of champagne, eek)
Sushi Hiroba (My birthday, pretty decent sushi, I enjoyed the tempura!)
Benares (Kiran’s birthday, disappointing food (especially since it was the first 1* with the family!!), good cocktails, nice ambience, stand out dish: mum’s starter, was something veggie…)
El Faro (not that one!, all the family, good spanish food in docklands, the starters were stunning, stand out dish: selection of El Faro puddings; creme catalan with lime, rice pudding, little cake etc, really tasty)
Emily was visiting from Paris and so we went to this popular Hampstead Japanese for dinner. In attendance were Jessie, Jess Bramhall, Amanda, Linda, Emily and myself (yes, I did feel privileged to be the only man there).
Food
Sashimi set, Miso Soup (Jess Bramhall)
Grilled Skewer Set A [grilled skewers of: fresh asparagus and pork rolls, shiso-leaf and pork roll with teryaki sauce, chicken and onion with yakitori sauce (x2), chicken meatballs with yakitori sauce, prawn, asparagus with special sauce (this replaced shitake mushroom)] (Jessie and Linda)
Some sort of noodle dish (Amanda)
Assortment of sushi, duck and spring onion skewer (Emily)
Prawn skewer, duck and spring onion skewer (x2), gyoza (grilled pork dumplings) (Me)
Drinks
Plum Wine (Jessie, Linda, Jess Bramhall)
Beer (Emily, Me)
Water (Amanda)
Total Cost: £102
It’s taken me a long time to write up Pied à Terre, partly due to being busy and partly because I was waiting for them to send me through the menu, which they did (Pied à Terre Menu and Pied à Terre Dessert Menu). In fact they sent me the wrong dessert menu but we remembered the details of our desserts!
Okay, so here is what we ate:
Amuses-Bouches
Aubergine Caviar, Mozarella wrapped in Parma Ham, Foie Gras Crisp, something else with red peppers
Starters
Carrot and Lime Marinated Scallops, with Avocade Puree, Baby Carrots and Pea Shoots (Jessie)
Tuna wrapped in Parma Ham with Soft Poached Quails Eggs, Green Beans, Pickled Mouli, Parsley Puree (Me)
Main Course
Pan fried John Dory with Roast Shallots, Green Tomato Fondue, Scallop Sausage and Vichyssoise Foam (Jessie)
Best End of Salt Marsh Lamb, Honey Glazed Turnip, Boudin of Morteaux Sausage, Celeriac Purée and Wild Rocket (Me)
Desserts
Lychee Mousse and Strawberry Yogurt Ice Cream with Champagne Foam (Jessie)
Acerola Cherry Parfait with Chocolate “Soil” and Lemon Sorbet (Me)
Coffee, Petit Fours
Food Cost: £62 each so £134
Wine
Assyrtiko, Sigalas, Satorini, 2006
Wine Cost: £32
Food + Wine = £166
Food: Chez Bruce , Wandsworth, 13th May 2007
May 18, 2007
Chez Bruce, the warm up act for Pied à Terre so to speak; kind of like having Bright Eyes warming up the crowd for Arcade Fire, or Leonard Cohen for Jimi Hendrix for the older readers amongst you.
We went for Jessie’s Mum’s birthday and there were six of us: Jessie, her parents, her sister Emily, Liana, friend of Emily and me.
This is what we ate:
Starters
Pea soup with truffled goat’s cheese cream and pea shoots (Emily, Liana)
Tuna sashimi with king prawn tempura, endive, peanuts and coriander (Jessie, Helen (her Mum))
Foie Gras and Duck Liver pâté with toasted brioche (Malcolm (Jess’s Dad), Me)
Main Course
Grilled halibut with lobster stuffed courgette flower, sauce vierge and jersey royals (Emily, Liana, Malcolm)
Sea bream with provençâle vegetable relish, grilled squid, almonds and sauce nero (Helen, Jessie)
Confit rabbit leg with risotto alla milanese, artichokes and niçoise jus (Me)
Desserts
White chocolate cocoa nib ice cream (Emily, Liana?)
Hot chocolate pudding with praline parfait (Jessie, Malcolm)
Rhubarb, champagne and pistachio trifle (Me)
Coffee, Chocolates
Food Cost: (didn’t see the bill but it was set price at £37.50pp with some additions for pricier dishes)
Wine
White: Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Neudorf, Nelson Bay, New Zealand
Red: Massaya “Classic” 2004, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, 2004 (half bottle)
Wine Cost: £38 (white) + £11 (red) = £49
Pied à terre
April 23, 2007
Jessie and I have decided to go to Pied a terre for her birthday (her brithday is 20th May, we are going on 18th). We are very excited!
We made the decision by working out a long list of 9:
1. Morgan M
2. Pied a terre
4. Nobu
5. Chez Bruce
6. The Capital
7. Tom Aikens
8. Maze
9. Petrus
From this we eliminated Ramsey’s three (3, 8, 9) due to their menus seeming rather dull (if that adjective can reasonably be used for a 3* restaurant then it seemed to fit Ramsey’s flagship, or perhaps not dull, but flat). Jessie felt the food at The Capital seemed a bit “old fashioned”. Nobu we eliminated but not on any particular basis, perhaps underlying the decision was AA Gill’s recent review which focuses on what Nobu has perhaps lost in the ten years since it opened: fashion. Also it is very expensive. Tom Aikens’ was difficult to eliminate as we have both had our eye on going there but in the end it seemed rather fussy.
So we were left with three: Morgan M, Pied a terre and Chez Bruce. Really it could have been any of these. I feel that you could blindfold me and have me point randomly at the menu at Morgan M (or at least the sample menu on their website) and I would be excited by what was brought to me. In the end, we eliminated Chez Bruce because of location (we could walk to the other two!) and Morgan M due to cost: it was too reasonable! The thinking is that Morgan M is within our price range for an occasional, but very good, meal. Pied a terre wins out for a special occasion.
So there it is. I have the understanding that Pied a terre is one of Gabriel’s favourite’s, I’ll have to ask what he thinks!
We went here (no website!) the night before we went to El Faro with Kiran and her friend Steffi. I can’t really remember what anyone ate!! Indy [in between his barely sensical ranting on other issues] has come up with the thought that I should have a notebook to take to restaurants so that I don’t forget! Genius. Anyway, I will do my best to fill in the gaps*!
Starters
Scallop and langoustine gratin (Me)
Tuna Carpaccio with manchego shavings and avocado sauce (Jessie)
Vegetable timbale (Kiran and Steffi shared, Spanish style)
Main Courses
Milhojas of prawns and cod (me)
Prawn and spinach lasagna (Jessie and Steffi, but not sharing)
Some sort of salt cod dish (Kiran)
Desserts
Chocolate cake (Kiran and Jessie, not sharing again)
Cappuccino ice cream with flaky pastry (Me)
Tiramisu (Steffi)
Food Cost: approx. €80 (I didn’t pick up the bill for some reason)
Wine
Bodegas Julian Chivite, Navarra, Gran Feudo, Chardonnay 2004
Wine Cost: €11.25
A very nice restaurant across the bay from Cadiz. Jessie and I took a boat to the town of El Puerto de Santa Maria (which is a story in itself). It was a bit of a walk from the centre of town but well worth it.
Okay, I am still working out a format for this but I think I am going to go with the following: brief description of location etc, what we ate and drank, cost, longer description of food and thoughts… these entries could be quite long!
Amuse-Bouche
A soup of peas and other delicious stuff, completely cannot remember what was in it.
Shared Starters:
Artichokes, stuffed with mushrooms, foie gras (?the Spanish word on the menu was “foie” but I am not sure if this is the right translation) and with a quail’s egg (I picked this)
A terrine of octopus with a sauce that I can’t remember and potato puree (Jess)
Main Course
Grilled red tuna with aubergine and an orange mustard sauce (Jess)
Duck Breast with Duck leg confit in a cassis sauce (Me)
Dessert
Apple sorbet with a pineapple wafer (Me)
Food Cost: €72.25 (£45.64)
Wine
2004 Rioja Crianza (I wrote down the name but have lost it! A look at the bill reveals the name “Bilibio” but a cursory Internet search reveals little, will check Hugh Johnson later)
Wine Cost: €11.75 (£7.40)
Total Cost €98.33 (£62.12, includes cost of coffee, water and tax)
Food (and Philosophy)
April 16, 2007
Jess suggested that I keep a diary of all the meals that we eat. I really couldn’t decide whether to do this via the traditional method of pen and paper (one of those sleek little moleskin diaries appealed) or by a more modern method. For the time being modern has won out.
The bracketed “(and philosophy)” is because there is a small chance that I will write some philosophy here. I will more likely end up writing a little bit about philosophy. Maybe if I have any thoughts about the philosophy of food it will end up here!
