Strada, South Bank - Friday 24th of July, 2009

One might question the validity and necessity of posting a review of a Strada restaurant, but since my encounters with Pizza Express this year, I thought I would briefly highlight the gap in quality between the two. As you can tell, this isn't going to be massively flattering, but the reason this is worth writing is also because I expected quality from Strada. I've eaten at more than one of their branches and enjoyed it on various occasions before.

Some friends and I had a catch-up meal at the massive restaurant they have on the South Bank, right next to the Royal Festival Hall on a Friday night. You can imagine how busy the place was. Given the volume of customers they turn over, the service is pretty good there. It's friendly and prompt, and satisfactory enough to make you feel like you're not in a fast food restaurant. However, the food was not quite up to scratch: insubstantial mushrooms with polenta to start, a steak that was a little tough and a chocolate fondant that reminded me how important it is to do basic dishes well.

Again, I'm not trying to rag on Strada here, but I do expect more because they can do better. Compare this with Pizza Express who never seem to let you down, and I was a little upset. I realise that getting great food out to tables in a hurry in a packed restaurant is a tough challenge, but as the saying goes: if you can't handle the heat... I can't imagine Pizza Express presenting me with a side comparable to the mushy potatoes and onions I got with my main course.

There are a few mitigating features about the meal though. Strada has the delightful habit of giving everyone bottled tap water at the table: superb. It is also a very large restaurant, busy at all times of the day. They are also serving a more diverse menu than Pizza Express, which always makes things a bit more difficult.

The last point to make is that I don't think Strada really need to change much if they keep rolling out the tables as easily as they do : there will always be punters ready to jump onto a table any time after six in the evening. They'll continue to do what they do, regardless of what I think, or in fact what anybody might think. Tables will be occupied, money will be made and food will be eaten, even if it isn't up to scratch.

High Road House Brasserie - Chiswick, 22nd of July, 2009

Corporate lunches are a wonderful thing. I don't get to partake very often, but I like to think that when I do, I'm worth the money. My office and I adjourned to this fairly large restaurant on Chiswick High Road, a short walk from Turnham Green station, for far longer than I had anticipated. The first brilliant part of the piece was that the visit went on for around three hours. Secondly, the food was extremely edible and enjoyable.

A few of us toyed with the idea of ordering the £19 rib-eye steak, but decided against it for our own safety in the office! Instead, we tried a variety of dishes which all went down well. Dining with ten other people, it's hard to try a bit of everything around the table, but my dishes were good enough to warrant analysis.

I went for eggs (or "egg") benedict, followed by a pork chop and a chocolate fondant. All three went off without a hitch. The eggs benedict was as a good egg on a muffin should be, but I was struck by the vibrancy and snap of some truly excellent ham. The pork chop was also good in a standard sort of a way, made better by the fact that it was not at all overdone, and the carrots on the side were well-buttered. I went for broke by ordering some dauphinoise potatoes on the side, which were as rich as they should be. Dessert was lovely, as any passable chocolate fondant should be. The inside was molten and very dark, and with vanilla ice cream on the side, it had me at "hello".

The High Road House Brasserie isn't really breaking any new ground in terms of restauranteering, but it is maintaining a level of readily available French/European cuisine that is starting to crop up all over the place on the high streets of London. Its polished metallic tables and sloping canopied roofs with outside dining and an old-fashioned bar make it a very enjoyable place to while away a few hours on a tasty lunch. If you're in Chiswick and can't quite afford La Trompette or Le Vacherin, this is no mean alternative.

High Road House Brasserie

Good Steak / Bad Steak - 13th of July, 2009

On a beautiful Monday evening, Mike and I met up for a bite to eat as we wandered through the streets of Chelsea. We eventually settled on The Bluebird Café, which sat impressively at the forefront of a shopping complex. We went for a cracking crayfish salad to start, which whetted our appetites for the cote de boef we had ordered to share.

The dish was unappealing at first. I'm never a huge fan of steak on the bone, but this had been sheared into thick strips, and cooked very unevenly from the look of things. There also appeared to be lots of fat on it, which can sometimes be alright, but when you can see it so clearly to start with, it's a tough one to look past.

The steak was as we had feared: tough, fatty, unevenly cooked and cold by the end because it took us a while to hack the strips of meat apart. The strange thing is: it was really tasty. As much as you really had to work for this food, the taste of it was almost reward enough. The chips were alright too.

Desserts (as they often do) saved the day. A fine, simple chocolate tart and a pretty extravagant barbecued peach topped things off nicely. But I would advise the Bluebird Café to brush up on their steaks pretty quickly, because if the taste of the one we tried was anything to go by, it could be a pretty fine meal when done right.

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

A week or so ago, I went to a restaurant in Teddington that I'd not been to before. The site which it occupies used to be inhabited by Liberty's, a restaurant chain that delivered precisely what you wanted (providing you wanted a solid yet thoroughly unspectacular meal), and which was a Teddington standard for years. In this spot now stands Retro, a modern eatery which this delightful suburb has been lacking for some time.

I sampled six dishes, all of which were above average. The scallops with cabbage and bacon to start were excellent, as was the apricot soufflé for dessert. Around this was some enjoyable and understated lemon sole, some slightly less understated lamb with dauphinoise and carrot pureé (and spinach!), a decent duck terrine and a standard chocolate fondant. I say "standard" because I love this dessert so very much that by merely having a passable one is qualification enough to say that it's good.

Hats off to Retro. They have instilled a new feeling into cuisine in Teddington. It certainly shows up Noel, the French place a few doors down, it has soared past the once effervescent Sorrento, and set itself up as the finest restaurant in town. Competitors, your challenge is set.

Taste London Festival – 21st of June, 2009, Regents Park

I celebrated the longest day of the year by attending London’s Taste festival with a few friends. I will try to sum up what Taste London is all about, if you’re not aware of it.

The festival comprises stands from many of London’s top restaurants and food retailers with some exhibitions, and the usual prizes and giveaway rubbish. You are issued with a book of tokens (quaintly referred to as ‘crowns’), and these serve as your cash for the day. Some of the drink and foodstuff stands take cash, but we dealt exclusively in crowns for our adventures on the 21st.

Instantly, there were a few stalls we wanted to check out. Le Gavroche was top of almost everyone’s list, since it is, or has been near to, the most famous London restaurant for ages. Other hopeful highlights were Joel Robuchon’s L’Atelier, Tom Aikens, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and Theo Randall’s stand.

There were some middling lows and soaring highs. The first plus point was the weather. We strolled around the park and enjoyed the beauty that sets Regents Park apart from almost every other green spot in the capital, and ended the day lounging by a pond filled with wildlife. It was sunny and breezy, and it reminded me that when it’s summertime in London, you almost never want to be anywhere else.

The food was, by and large, excellent. We chose carefully beforehand how much we were going to spend and where exactly we wanted to eat, but this also proved tricky as some of the menus were not quite appetising enough to warrant spending our precious crowns. The first casualty was L’Atelier. I’ve eaten there once before and it is fabulous (and this was only a set menu meal), but the options on offer just weren’t doing it for us. I saw people walking away with what I discovered to be foie gras burgers, but these were so miniature that I couldn’t justify spending 10 crowns (around £5) on them. I’m sure they were divine, but they were just too tiny.

I’ll start with the most hotly anticipated stand, Le Gavroche. We tried two of their dishes on offer: chicken & truffle terrine with pickled mushrooms and some braised beef with dauphinoise potatoes. I have to say that given the standard I expected – and I think this is one of a few London restaurants you can sample with high hopes and reasonably expect to have them met or exceeded – was not amazing. Don’t get me wrong, the terrine was light and sumptuously classy (as pressed and shaped chicken breast should always be), but a little thin on the ground. I felt a little like I’d eaten essence of terrine, rather than terrine itself. The braised beef was very red-wined and rich, but a little relentless for my tastes. I also thought the potatoes on the side were very ordinary. Shame, but I’m still determined to eat a proper meal there one day!

The chicken & truffle terrine

The braised beef

An early delight was Tom’s Kitchen. Tom Aikens’ Mayfair restaurant is also somewhere high on my London wish list. As with so much modern cuisine, Mr. Aikens plumped for the classics: chicken liver parfait with grape chutney & brioche and braised lamb with mash and onions. I have to say that I was pretty hungry, given that these were the first dishes of the day, but I was not prepared for such exquisite mini-portions of loveliness. The lamb was rich and tender, but not as harsh as the beef from Le Gavroche (the dishes were similar), and the mash that accompanied it was practically foam – nice. The parfait was as exceptional and thick as one would want it to be: I did not eat a better starter all day.

The braised lamb

The chicken liver parfait

The one big let-down for the day was the duck burger on offer at Croque Gascon. I’d read a piece about Gascon cuisine which moved me to think that it is the kind of food I want to be eating more of. (Essentially rich, lavish French cuisine.) Unfortunately, I found the duck burger tough, bland, over-sauced and boring. The chips that came with it were alright though. Another disappointment was The Grill At The Dorchester. Ducasse actually had his own stand for The Dorchester next to this too, thus ensuring blanket-coverage for his famous franchise. We were desperate to try the seared scallop with sardine pie, but they had unfortunately sold out. Even so, they gave us some half priced dishes to make up for it: ballotine of ham and chocolate crumble. For half price, they weren’t bad but neither were particularly inspiring. The former was too dry and the latter too much like a fancy supermarket dessert. Both tasted okay, but “okay” isn’t really what you expect from The Dorchester.

Two dishes from The Dorchester

Another attraction of the day was the opportunity to see top chefs preparing food. Theo Randall hacking into a Guinea Fowl and preparing it with lemon and potatoes rejuvenated everyone’s appetite at the halfway stage of the day. We were also treated to a wonderful appropriation of ‘My Favourite Things’ by the eccentric and charismatic broadcast sommelier Olly Smith. More impressive were near-front row seats to watch Jun Tanaka of Pearl Restaurant prepare some herbed lamb and trout confit. It is very interesting watching top chefs up close, and this was the first opportunity I had had to do so outside of television. Tanaka seems a very down-to-earth person and was funny and garrulous throughout his session, in which he also made a 20-second omelette. The key feature of this session was the simplicity with which he prepared his dishes; the initial theme of his new book on French cuisine.

Jun Tanaka whips up a 20-second omelette

Olly Smith watches Theo Randall prepare Guinea Fowl

The big surprise of the day was some ravioli we sampled from Refettorio. It contained cod, potato and marjoram emulsion. I must admit I was sceptical: I hadn’t heard of the restaurant and the idea of mixing potatoes with pasta seemed ludicrous. We were all blown away by the light, smooth and refreshing dish. (Refreshing? Pasta and potatoes?! Wonderful!) It was a delight, and one which I’m glad I sampled against my initial judgement.

The cod ravioli

Desserts (as you might have guessed) were near the top of my list for the day, and two places were singled out for pudding alone. The first was Launceston Place, where chef Tristan Welch had provided his specialty rhubarb and custard crumble ice cream. I had to read this twice to ensure I understood what it meant and to check that there hadn’t been a typing error. Indeed it was correct, and boy did I want to try some. Unfortunately it was served in a cone (which I cannot abide), but the crumble-dusted ice cream was excellent. Very sour/sweet as a good rhubarb crumble ought to be, and riotously fun. The second was the classic lemon tart with strawberry sauce from Gary Rhodes’ Rhodes Twenty Four restaurant. I have to say that sitting on the grass, sampling this delicious standard on a hot day was just about perfect.

The rhubarb & custard crumble ice cream

The lemon tart

And it is the topic of perfection that I wish to close on. The standard of cuisine sampled throughout the day was generally very high, but there are two dishes that stood out as universal favourites. First up was the lamb with pea panna cotta & mint sauce from Odette’s. This was as gloriously simple as it sounds. The lamb was tender and perfect, the pea panna cotta was gelatinous and smooth, and the mint sauce worked as well as it should. Same goes for the chocolate cake with mascarpone cream from Theo Randall. I can say without hyperbole that this is the finest chocolate cake I have eaten. And I don’t need to say any more than that.

The lamb

The chocolate cake

So that was the Sunday that was… Stunning weather, food and company made for a super day. I enjoyed practically all of it and would recommend next year’s event most heartily. It’s not really worth rating the chefs and the food (I tried painfully little of the stalls on offer, and regrettably missed out on some of the more diverse cuisines), but here’s my Taste London three course meal of the day:

Starter – Chicken Liver Parfait from Tom’s Kitchen

Main Course – Lamb from Odette’s

Dessert – Chocolate Cake from Theo Randall