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.

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

All in all this was a good meal food wise. Jin Kichi is well known for its skewers (my dad thought that it was hilarious that we went out for “Japanese Kebabs”) and so we ordered quite a few. We took a long time ordering because we were chatting a lot and started off waiting for Emily (we gave up on that when she called to say that the Picadilly line was closed, she was coming from Baron’s Court). In addition, the grilled skewers take a long time to arrive so I would advise anyone who is interested in having these and is hungry (as we all were!) to order quickly. Since we were so hungry, we tended not to share- we just ate what was put in front of us with great gusto- and so I can’t give a detailed breakdown of all the dishes but only my impressions! Of my own dishes, the gyoza (s?) were really tasty; they were garlicky and had sweet spring onion inside and were also quite spicy which was a really nice combination. I have them almost every time I go to a Japanese restaurant and these were the best that I have had. The skewer was also very tasty, a nice combination with an interesting, slightly sweet sauce on it. My grilled prawn was a little dull but very large and cooked pretty well.

Jessie and Linda’s selection of skewers went down very well. I think that they were both very pleased with everything that they got (notwhithstanding the fact that they were very hungry when it arrived). In retrospect I wish I had tried some of their pork skewers (no surprise there!) but que sera, sera. Jess B really enjoyed her sashimi which was beautifully prepared and Emily enjoyed all of her sushi. She has only been eating it for a little while and mainly in lunch style boxes I think so I should have got her thoughts on it! Also I have no idea what Amanda thought of her soup- she was very quiet on the matter: leave some comments guys!

Apart from the wait, the only issue was the price. It was a tad more expensive that I would be happy to pay for regularly. I probably felt like this for two reasons: 1. the portions were not very large (though the food was largely very good) and 2. Asa Kusa is so much cheaper (albeit in “cheaper” surroundings). I think that we have been somewhat spoilt by finding Asa Kusa as it is ridiculously cheap (I’ll have to write it up so everyone knows about it!). This wasn’t an expensive place really, but probably not a regular haunt, just somewhere to go when you get a craving for skewers and dumplings!

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

We went for Jessie’s birthday and ended up taking the tube which meant that we were there in about 10 mins. We were welcomed very pleasantly and led into the back room of the restaurant. Along the right hand wall was a banquette alongside which were all of the tables for 2 (4 if I remember correctly) and one table for 4. However, at the end of the banquette was one table for two where, rather than sitting opposite each other, the couple sat at a right angle, thus allowing for more intimacy (and gossiping). Rather luckily we were given this spot! This also meant that the person sitting at the right angle to the line of diners against the wall (me!) could look down the line of tables and nosy in on what was going on with everyone else. This was quite a nice thing to do whenever something exciting turned up but it was quite a effort to get our eyes off our own food once it had arrived (and off each other of course!).

We toyed with the idea of getting the tasting menu but decided on a la carte in the end. To begin the meal we both had a glass of rose champagne which was rather delicious (Ruinart, NV) . Then arrived some tasty walnut and olive bread, soon followed by the amuses-bouches. The four items were arranged along a glass platter, each with its own holder. Of the four, the fois gras crisp stood out visually: there were two pieces of “crisp” with a dollop of foie gras sandwiched between them. In taste terms, the aubergine caviar was delicious, tasting slightly spicy. The mozarella and the pepper thing were both very good flavour combinations but that which looked the best, and was the most interesting to eat (in the mechanics of eating sense) was the least interesting flavour wise I felt. Still, the set was a great marker to set down for what was to come.

And my, what did come. Our starters were rather stunning. Jessie’s scallops were carpaccio’d and presented in a wash of green and orange. She loved the presentation of the dish and the textures, the baby carrots were a particular favourite on in both regards. She said it was very tasty as well, the combination of the carrot and lime with the more subtle flavour of the scallops was a particular standout. My own dish was a wonderful mix of textures and flavours. The tuna arrived in three cylinders wrapped around the sides with the parma ham and each of the cylinders had half a soft boiled quail’s egg resting on it. The flesh was translucent and mixed well with the creamy quail’s egg yolk and the salty parma ham. I had a little trouble at the time identifying the mouli; it had such a familiar flavour (it is something eating quite a lot by Punjabis) but just didn’t look like the radish that I wanted to call it! It has a sharp radish-like flavour but pickling it gives it a lovely addition of sweetness from the vinegar.

My main course was once again delicious. The lamb was a deep crimson in the centre and gradually got browner out at the edges. It had been rolled in a green herb paste that definitely contained rocket. The turnip pieces melted in the mouth (honey and turnip is such a classic combination) and were best accompanied by cloves of garlic that had been roasted so long that they were mushy inside their skins. The intriguing part of the dish was the sausage. I am a little confused with the description “Boudin of Morteaux sausage” since I thought that a boudin was a sausage?! Anyway, this was a sausage (and not a sausage in a sausage!) of various tasty pork morsels and lightly scrambled egg. I twas rather lovely to try on its own and, much to my suprise, was a great compliment to the lamb. Jessie doesn’t remember so much of the detail of her dish but one thing that was particularly intriguing was the scallop sausage. I remember that it puzzled us considerably when it arrived since we had forgotten that it was part of the dish! I do remember her raving about the combination of the shallots and the fish though!

Now, the puddings. What to say… Jess’ mother makes just about the best desserts I’ve ever eaten (with a couple of exceptions, more on this below) and so you would imagine her foodie daughter to be something of an expert on a good dessert.  She declared this the best dessert that she has ever eaten. Full Stop. That says it all really. However, being the person that I am, I can’t help but add some embellishment. Firstly, like everything else that arrived, both desserts looked stunning, especially Jess’. She had two perfectly shaped mounds (one of lychee mousse, the other of the ice cream) both encircled by sugar rings giving them a Saturn-esque look. All of this was surrounded by a lake of champagne foam. In my own dessert, the cherry parfait was intriguingly encased in a thin sugar layer which was sprinkled with the chocolate “soil”, a mixture of dark chocolate and nuts to give a soil-y texture. On top of all of this was the lemon sorbet, shaped as a small lemon! Needless to say it was also delicious, coming second in my all time pudding list only to the raspberry and strawberry soufflé at the Waterside. There was also a delicious predessert of treacle foam with a port sauce which I could have easily eaten a whole plate of.

We ordered coffee, and were rather glad that we did for it came with a fabulous set of petit fours. First we had four small sweet delights, a cake, a jelly, a sweet and a marshmallow, of which the  soft and flavoursome passionfruit marshmallow stood out. We were then brought a metal wire tree, at the end of each of the “branches” of which was a tuile biscuit. An enjoyable end to a very enjoyable meal.

This was, quite simply, a stunning meal. The service was top class (you’d expect nothing less from a restaurant of this calibre) and the food was brilliant. I have been readily recommending it for a special meal (and one person has even listened to my recommendation, which makes a change!). This has to go in to the top three restaurant meals.

P.S. Almost forgot about the wine. Mineraly, citrus tinged white that accompanied some of our selections very well (my starter, Jessie’s main). Lots of information here.

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

The dining room was light and airy and not that large but each table had a decent amount of space. The service was discreet, efficient and friendly; nothing less than you would imagine from a Michelin 1*. There was the one occasion when our wine waitress and I had something of a tussle over who was going to pour the last glass from my carafe (I was drinking the red); she was a lot better at it than me as I spilt a drop or two!

Two of the three starter types that we ordered (as opposed to tokens; there is the philosophical content of this blog done with) looked fantastic: the soup was a bright (pea) green and the tuna, prawns etc was equally colourful with a mix of deep red-pink tuna and greens and yellows from the various accompaniments. The third starter, of Mal and me, was a white pot filled with the typically pink-brown hue of the pâté with a huge slice of golden toasted brioche. The first couple of mouthfuls of brioche loaded with pâté were absolutely delicious- it was so very smooth and flavoursome- and were accompanied by general sounds of enjoyment from all round the table. However, as I continued I must say that the combination was somewhat overwhelming. I tend to like dishes where the flavours and textures are varied over the course of the dish, in this one the flavour became a little overwhelming (for the mouth) after about half way through and as the dish went on the smoothness tended to coat the mouth, making it ever so slightly cloying. I think, then, that I made a mistake in choosing this starter: the sounds coming from those eating the other two were definitely positive over the whole course of the dish! If I had my choice again I think I would have gone for either the Tuna or Pig’s trotter and ham hock salad with sauce ravigote, dandelion and beetroot, which was my second choice behind the pâté.

Moving on to main courses, everyone had fish apart from me. I guess the Steer family are big fish fans and the dishes that they chose did look enticing. The stuffed courgette flowers looked particularly tasty, I’ve been a fan since I first had them at Salt Yard (great tapas place). However, since no sharing went on I will restrict my comments to my main course. It was fantastic, very very tasty: go and have it now. As a main course this was right up my street, a combination of four or five elements (the rabbit, risotto, grilled artichokes (probably my favourite vegetable, with asparagus a close second), nicoise sauce and green beans) such that any combination of flavours (2, 3, 4 or all 5, I think I managed one mouthful of all 5!) increased the complexity and enjoyment of the dish. The rabbit leg was ridiculously tender and melted in the mouth and the risotto was creamy and with an meaty aftertaste. The combination of those two flavours would perhaps have been too creamy had they been the only elements of the dish but the sweet nicoise sauce, with juicy tomatoes in it and the nutty artichoke flavour broke up that creamy taste. It really was an excellent dish, perhaps my top main course (competing with roasted guinea fowl with guinea fowl liver on crostini at Locatelli, and my pigeon stuffed with quail stuffed with mushrooms at The Waterside; I don’t include any Fat Duck dishes in these comparisons).

When the waiter came to take our dessert order I told him that I had been thinking about the rhubarb trifle since I first saw the menu that day. I was lying. I had been thinking about it since I first saw the online Chez Bruce menu some weeks earlier. In particular, I had been thinking about how I would make it. I concluded that I would make a rhubarb compote for the bottom layer, then soak home made Italian sponge in champagne for the middle and make a pistachio paste and whip it into cream for the top. I was pretty far off how they did it! They had a rhubarb and champagne compote for the bottom layer, but it might have had a little gelatin in it as it had a slightly thicker texture (alternatively, it might just have been thoroughly chilled so that it partially set, I couldn’t quite tell). Then on that was a thick layer of cream topped with chopped pistachios and little green pistachio flavoured pieces. However it was made, it was well tasty! I just sat there focused on the little glass bowl, eating, not noticing at all what was going on around the table. As a result, I have difficulty remember what was eaten by those not sitting next to me (Helen and Liana in particular, I remember talking about the ice cream with Emily!) and have no idea how they found it. The trifle was suitably reminiscent of the trifles of my youth (homemade, but with jelly from the packet and custard!) but flavoured exquisitely; I am a huge rhubarb fan by the way, this might explain some of the superlatives. The things I love best about rhubarb were really emphasised, the tart flavour was in harmony with the champagne and it was not overly sweet or heavy. Delicious.

I drank the red wine with my meal whilst everyone else had white. By all accounts the white was good and the red was lovely; a lot heavier than the Chateau Mussar (the other Lebanese wine we have had) but still very fruity. The company was, as always, delightful even more so since we were celebrating a birthday!

To finish, some comparisons. The restaurant had much more of a local, relaxed feel than the others that I have been to of this type. Along with this perhaps, there was less of a finesse perhaps, certainly at Locatelli there is a heightened feeling of gastronomy and excellence. The cuisine did not have an underlying basis, there were elements of French and Italian influences as well as Japanese, Spanish and some others (English: Trifle!). A very enjoyable meal.

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

3. Gordon Ramsey (Chelsea)

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

Another great value meal, ’tis the nature of the region. When we arrived it was pretty dead although we weren’t there that early (it must have been about 9. I suppose the fact that it was Wednesday did not help, the restaurant part (restaurant upstairs, tapas bar downstairs and outside when the weather is good enough!) was not full at any part of the evening. Once again we had a friendly waiter and some pre dinner drinks (juices for the ladies, a glass of fino for myself) downstairs in the bar area whilst we perused the menu. The menu was in Spanish so there were some terms we didn’t understand but the waiter really helped out, at one point bringing out a scallop shell to demonstrate!

Upstairs the service was a little more austere but still very efficient. I chose the wine on the basis that we wanted white, I knew the Navarra region to produce good wines, this was the only bottle from Navarra. That is was chosen on such a flimsy basis is even greater reason to celebrate how good it was; bright yellow almost in colour, it had a slight fruit taste and was not at all oaky (something that often overpowers chardonnay taste?) and even Kiran, a resolute non-wine drinker, was led to conclude: “for a wine, that is pretty nice”. Buy some if you can but initial internet searches suggest low availability.

On to the food. Our starters were all delicious. Jess loves tuna, loves carpaccio and loves manchego so that was always going to be a hit. Kiran liked theirs so much that she ordered it as a main course when we returned later in the week (see below). Mine was served in the scallop shell and the creamy and rich mixture of cream and cheese in the gratin was nicely broken up by the seafood. The only negative aspect was a slight grittiness where the filling met the shell.

The main courses were good, but not quite up there with the starters. Kiran’s salt cold was too salty, I can’t remember what the source was that accompanied it but it didn’t take away the overly saltly flavour. This may seem something of a unfair charge, to label cod too salty but my dish was also made of salt cod and it had a far better balanced flavour. So ner! “Milhojas” we translated as “millefeuille” but I think it would be more accurate to say layered since there was no pastry to be seen. It was once again in a cream based sauce which meant that I was getting pretty stuffed. This wasn’t so much of a problem on that evening but was the following lunch when I longingly stared at the el Faro dessert menu. Jess and Steffi’s lasanga was very tasty they both admitted but was somewhat lacking in prawns! This was especially galling as we had been debating how the prawns would be fitted into the lasagna, it seemed that sparingly was the correct answer!

The dessert menu was a little dull (as they tended to be almost everywhere that we went in the region) but we were all in the mood and so tucked in regardless. Steffi declared her Triamisu delicious (and ordered it again when we returned). Jess and Kiran asked about a particular chocolate dish and were informed that it was based around a biscuit of some kind. When it arrived it was pretty much chocolate cake (and a slightly dull chocolate cake at that) and so something must have been lost in translation. My own dessert was tasty but unimaginative, the Cappuccion ice cream tasted strongly of coffee but the flaky pastry pieces that accompanied it were drizzled with honey.

As I mentioned, we returned to the restaurant on Saturday, this time with Jessie B and Steffi’s mum, Claudia, in attendance. I won’t go into too much detail (!). We had intended to have tapas but the Saturday night clientel had crowded out the bar and it was a little too cold to sit outside so headed up to the restaurant again. Everyone ordered just one course apart from me who was ordering the wine (same wine) when this pact was made and thus looked like a right plonker tucking into my starter (what I thought would be asparagus with hollandaise but turned out to be a terrine of asparagus and what tasted like whey) with a crowd of onlookers. Claudia and Jessie B ordered a sea bass dish in which some pieces had an tough, uncooked texture: I would be interested in knowing whether this is just the way sea bass is or whether it was uncooked- we had some debate upon the matter.

The highlight for me was certainly my main course, the signature dish of the restuarant (according to the rought guide) of deer in a chesnut sauce. The deer was tiny roasted cutlets that had a high fat-meat ratio but were cooked excellently and complemented perfectly by the chesnut sauce which had a slightly smoky flavour to it. A really tasty dish for game lovers. We finished with a round of cafe solos.

All in all this was a great restaurant, we paid €25 a head for a three course meal with wine, coffee and pre dinner drinks the first time we went so it was tremendously reasonable as well.

_____________________

*Jessie clearly has a far superior memory to me as she was able to recall almost everything that people ate and thus make this look far better than it would have done.

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)

Wow, what to say about this meal. Firstly, the service was amazing. The waiter, whose name was Ignacio (it’s written on the bill!), told us when we arrived at 1.30 that we were too early by Spanish standards and that the restaurant had not finished setting up and so he invited us to have a glass of sherry. I chose my usual fino (very dry sherry, I was getting quite into it at this point) and ordered the same for Jess, at which point he very politely refused to serve her a fino and instead bought a cream (much sweeter) for her. He told us that this is the way they do it in Spain*, men have the fino and women the cream. He got it spot on! Jess much preferred her drink and I mine. After that we spent about an hour deciphering the menu and ordered at which point he told us that in Spain they tend to share the starters rather than having one each and that he would arrange it so we could do the same. So we had two “courses” of starters served to us separately, I guess they weren’t to know that we would have been happy sharing like everyone else! Furthermore, I was a little baffled by the wine list, knowing practically nothing about Spanish wine, and when we asked Ignacio to pick one for us the look of delight on his face was fantastic; he really seemed to be enjoying himself as much as we were!

Right, so that was the service (he patted me on the shoulder as we left, that is how friendly we were by the end) now to the food. The amuse bouche was delicious, a thick, grey green soup but I can’t for the life of me remember what was in it now!** Jess and I are still arguing over the starters: she doesn’t like fried egg and the quail’s egg was fried. In fact, the construction of both dishes was pretty amazing. The artichokes were about 5cm in diameter and hollowed out and inside was the foie gras/mushroom mix. The quail’s egg was then fried and set on top like a little lid. The octopus terrine was served as three perfectly square slices of just a few millimetres thickness, I am not sure what the octopus was set in to make the terrine but it looked fabulous: small cross-sections of octopus in this square of purple. Both starters tasted great but I preferred mine, the combination of the slightly sweet, sticky berry sauce and the creamy egg yolk was just fantastic. However, the sauce that came with Jessie’s was lovely as well, in fact a combination of two sauces, one creamy, the other slightly tangy and sharp; it combined excellently with the octopus!

In the main courses there was no contest. Ignacio had taken a liking to me and was well pleased when he thought that I had chosen the tuna, I should have told him that I had as it was delicious. Ignacio actually let us know that the Tuna season had just finished and that we may have to change dish. He went to ask the chef what he thought and came back to tell us that they had a better fish, similar to tuna but tastier (!) that was a typical Spanish fish that they would make the dish with. The whole thing was lovely, especially the curious orange mustard sauce: that combined with the mushy aubergines reminded me of Punjabi food, the tanginess of the sauce was almost like chutney. My duck dish was excellent but a little dull in comparison, the sauce was again the highlight (they must have a fantastic “sauciere- a specialist in sauces”(cf. Chef in Apocalypse Now, couldn’t resist)). I’ve been having real trouble with my sauces recently so it was good to taste some good ones!

I had a dessert but really pushed myself to fit it in: we had had three courses the previous evening as well as a hearty ration of tapas the previous lunch. The apple sorbet was refreshing and tart, maybe not quite the “appley-ist apple ever, even more appley than an apple” (as Jessie’ Mum remarked of her pud at the Waterside). The dessert menu did look fantastic though: I was particularly tempted by i) the four chocolate dessert: chocolate mousse, chocolate ice cream, chocolate ravioli and a fourth thing that I couldn’t translate! and ii) cheesecake soufflé and cheesecake ice-cream in strawberry sauce. The chocolate one has me thinking about my next big dinner, perhaps a dessert of chocolate soufflé, a chocolate, passion fruit and lime truffle and chocolate ice cream? We finished off a splendid meal with a pair of delicious café solos and some petit fours; two soft, fluffy cakes and a pistachio and marzipan concoction that seemed to have rice crispies in it!

To have such a great meal is one thing, to then pay £60 for it is amazing. I could not stop talking about this for a considerable time afterwards and the length of this post is testament to the fact that this was a great meal but at that price it is scandalous! I cannot imagine paying that much for a meal in London and having such an exquisite set of courses, such well thought out combinations or anything approaching that quality (having said that, three courses at Morgan M are £34, though that is not including wine! I cannot wait to try it there!).

Jess and I are starting to come around to the idea that Spain is our favourite European country; the cities, the sites, great art, friendly people and stunning food! Those who know me well know that I have a fondness for ranking, this meal goes into the top 5 but I can’t quite place it: maybe a topic for future thought!

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*I have to blog about restaurants and families, the Spanish seem to have a much better attitude toward whole family eating than we do.

**The problem was eating so many meals in such a short time, you get a bit meal-ed out!

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!