Golden Day: Chinatown, Sunday September 23rd, 2012

When you eat out as much as I do, you get a feel for the kinds of places to try and those to avoid. Without too much effort, you can gauge whether or not you will like a place just by looking at it. It might sound judgmental and pretentious but it's true.

One early autumn evening last year, the wife and I were invited to try dinner with one of her old colleagues at a place in Chinatown which, apparently, was not a bad sort of place at all and one that we would quite enjoy. Just looking at the offensively orange exterior and the semi-fast food makeup of the inside, I was pretty convinced I would have a hard time here.

And so it proved. (Clearly the review was always going to go this way from an introduction like that.) The meal ambled along and eventually reached the point where I asked the wife and her friend to check with the waiting staff if there was anything on the menu I would actually be able to eat without streaming nose, eyes and other orifices. It was a very spicy evening indeed...

In defence of the place, I did manage to get through some cabbage and some simple pancakes but the glass noodles, served in a bowl of lethal-looking red sauce were exactly that (left). The wife and her friend quite enjoyed them but I could not see it past a few mouthfuls. It was a similar story to more or less everything else on the table, eventually.

Some dry-fried beef would normally have been a reassuring standard-bearer on a night like this, but again the amount of chilli was prohibitively hot for me. The girls got through an impressive-looking but outstandingly spicy hot pan of pig intestine which was fresh and vibrant but far too out there for more than a mouthful for me (right).

That was more or less the story of the evening, sadly. The place was not appealing, the food too spicy and generally not to my taste at all. In the interest of balance, the wife's opinion was a little more relaxed than mine, saying that as a Chinese restaurant, it was pretty average, though she did not appreciate the service. It did seem to be rather slow-paced and lackadaisical throughout the evening. Their answer to some non-spicy fare for me was a dish we already had on the table but I had found too spicy...

I would not recommend this place but I suppose I am not the person to ask about an overtly spicy restaurant in Chinatown. It clearly is not one of the West End's hotspots for Asian food though, so I am a little vindicated in my general dislike of this place. For very spicy, average Chinese grub in an annoyingly orange atmosphere, it doesn't get much better than this.

A Birthday Indulgence: Launceston Place & Assa - Kensington & Soho, Sunday September 16th, 2012

One of the downsides of living in an old building (our home is over 100 years old) is that sometimes facilities are not the best. Over the past few years, our hot water has been known to trip into either overdrive or total failure. On one Sunday last year the unthinkable happened and we were without hot water for the whole day. This was supposed to be my Valentine's Day surprise for 2012 but the wife flew into a seething rage which lasted about eight hours and in the process, cancelled our plans for the day.

Now the plan itself had been a surprise so I didn't really lose much. In fact, the surprise came anyway when she took me for a lovely dinner later that week. I think she must have felt bad because she then re-arranged our lunch for one Sunday in September and off we went to Launceston Place, somewhere which has become a firm favourite for the both of us over the last few years.

It just so happened that the re-arrangement was the day before her birthday too, so it turned into something of a double celebration. Sunday lunch is a great time to go to Launceston Place because their set menu is always reasonable and offers good quality and variety. As usual, their impeccable bread and butter got us off to a superbly appetising, moderately too-filling start.

Along with the bread, we were presented with some choux pastry bon bons with cheese and bechamel sauce inside (left). These were buttery, crunchy morsels of absolute indulgence, or exactly what good amuse bouches should be. The cheese was not overpowering but strong enough to stand out and the pastry was perfect. Our pre-starter was a wild mushroom foam with hazelnuts and some oil. This was less impressive since I didn't understand the nuts at all and they lent nothing other than a distracting contrast of texture and flavour to a delicious mushroom soup.

The wife was unshakably decided on the scallops to start from the moment we read the menu. Costing an extra £6, these were a delight (right). Expertly seared and soft in the middle, they were served with a slab of pork belly with a delicious sweet glaze which elevated the dish well above just another plate of scallops. Celeriac purée and various apple accompaniments tied it together superbly. As a combination of ingredients it's a bit of a no-brainer but in terms of the execution it couldn't be faulted.

My starter was something a little more restrained. A poached hen's egg with pea velouté and prosciutto lardo was presented in just about the most appetising way possible (left). Thick, rich soup with a perfectly poached, large egg sitting in, garnished with pea shoots and draped with salty, shiny strips of fat was a delicious, hearty starter. The egg yolk added a stark richness to the creaminess of the peas and the bacon fat contributed a delicious sheen of savoury punch.

After plenty of bread and a very satisfying starter, I felt a bit of fish was in order, especially when hand-speared plaice was on the menu (right). Served with salt cod bon bons, cauliflower purée, samphire, capers and chicken jus, the flavour definition of the dish was exceptional. I am not a huge lover of fish when meat is an option but this was an outstanding balance of varying texture and harmony.

The wife needed no encouragement to pay another supplementary cost and enjoy the classic Launceston Place roast beef (left). Excellently medium-rare, served with proper dripping-cooked potatoes, vegetables and their glorious red wine gravy with a hint of truffle... This sort of meal is the kind any gastro-pub proprietor needs to eat and understand what a decent roast Sunday lunch really tastes like.

Desserts at Launceston Place always make me happy. Usually before I've even eaten them. The menu reads precisely how you want an English menu to: simple, elegant desserts which make sense. Baked yoghurt with yoghurt ice cream and fruits is one such sensible yet exciting pudding (right). This was not the sort of dessert that explodes with intricate and sensational flavour, but one which just makes you feel good about what you're eating. Need we ask for more? Puddings aren't good for us but they should make us feel good. The yoghurt ice cream was a little tart but the sweet fruits and meringue compensated and the result was a friendly pot of summer dessert.

The wife went down the route of a slightly more extravagant finisher in the form of chocolate and caramel mousse (left). The overt sweetness of the mousse was beautifully contrasted with poached pear, pear sorbet and some salted caramel smeared on the plate. Pastry was added to jazz up the overall texture and the result was a delicious and rewarding combination of satisfying sweetness. I wasn't allowed much of this but what I had was a treat.

Launceston Place has come a long way in my estimation since my first semi-disastrous visit. It has slowly changed from a modern European restaurant with great potential to the real deal. It now owns a Michelin Star (though it didn't at the time of this visit) and focuses on proper local tastes and dishes. (The 'British' tag for this particular review is the first for Launceston Place.) In terms of upmarket Sunday lunch, I don't believe there is anywhere better in London.

Now, on the Friday visit to Duck Soup, the wife had been lobbying for a return to the Soho branch of the Korean restaurant Assa. Somewhere we'd enjoyed plenty before, and given that it was her birthday weekend, I relented and for some reason we found ourselves eating dinner there after a pretty indulgent lunch.

Assa is a really enjoyable, no-frills Korean joint. It does not flatter to deceive and the food (by and large) is worth what they are charging. My standard is usually the Korean classic of bim bim bap: rice with egg, beef, vegetables and sauce, mixed together in a hot pot at the table (right). There is something assuredly rustic about dishes like this which makes them so appealing to me. Mixing the fresh ingredients together in the pot, cooking them in the process, is the very essence of Asian eating which can sometimes be lost in London's Asian restaurants. The flavour, in Assa's case, is always a sweet, sour, salty and refreshingly comfortable one.


The wife was given free reign over the menu since it was a birthday treat for her and she went for the spicy kim-chi tofu soup (left). This is the kind of stuff I simply cannot abide because it is ridiculously spicy and sour (and it contains tofu). But for her it is always a treat which means it is a decent appropriation of genuine Asian cuisine. We also always seem to eat glass noodles when we're at Assa; they tend to be very consistent (above right). Slippery, clean noodles with stir-fried pork mince and vegetables is a satisfying plate indeed.

Another of our standard dishes was brought to the table in the form of a seafood pancake (left). Crisp-fried and filled with prawn & chives and served with some vinegar for dipping, dishes as rich and flavoursome as this are going to remain on our go-to list for a while. Additionally, we ordered some crispy pork to finish things off (above right). This was a pleasantly fresh accompaniment, not being greasy or heavy at all. It was a nice balance of salty pork with slightly neutralising notes from the cucumber and peppers within. A very reasonable side piece to a totally unreasonable dinner, given our lunch.

Assa, like Launceston Place, is a great favourite of ours. The food is reasonably-priced and almost always delivers on flavour and texture. The sheer rusticity of the place makes it a Soho must-visit and when it's good, it's very good. The fact that they still don't have a website somehow makes it all the better: it's not a secret, but it is a great place to tell your friends about. As for this particular Sunday, the wife was elated that we'd managed to take in two of her favourite places in one day, at the very least.

Launceston Place

Spatisserie at The Dorchester: Mayfair, Saturday September 15th, 2012

After the outrageous indulgence of her birthday in 2011 (it was her 30th after all...), the wife was calmly assured that the celebrations last year were to be altogether more reasonable and affordable. As such, it was up to me to arrange a few small things which eventually culminated in a four course home-cooked meal for her. I personally thought I did a good job as chef but she did find some fault with every course I put before her. So, if you think I can be harsh...

The birthday weekend began with a trip to The Dorchester for afternoon tea. I was actually taken there for tea the year before by the wife so I knew she would like it and - despite the fact that it is The Dorchester - tea for two is a relatively inexpensive afternoon out. So as not to exactly replicate her birthday treat for me I decided to explore another option The Dorchester offers for their afternoon tea: in the spa room instead of the lobby.

When written down, neither place reads like much but since we knew the lobby (or 'Promenade') well enough from the year before, I thought it might be a bit of fun to eat downstairs. Spatisserie is more or less exactly as it sounds: a tea room within the downstairs spa at the grand hotel. The first thing you notice is that this place is really set up for people who have actually come from the spa itself. If you're not padding about in slipper-sandals and a dressing gown it feels slightly strange.

The food is much the same as we'd enjoyed upstairs the year before, minus the Wimbledon motif. The sandwiches were almost as delicious as last time but the big let-down was they were not as fresh (left). I'm not suggesting they were stale by any means, but they were not as springy-soft as they should have been. It felt distinctly as if they had been left out upstairs before coming to the downstairs spa. As with our previous visit, the chicken on basil bread was excellent but the whole sandwich episode fell a little flat given how un-fresh they felt.

The dessert section of the menu held a little more intrigue because it was different from last time. An appealing array of chocolate tart, almond cake with apricot, strawberry & peach macaroon and mango, coconut & lime cake was presented to us (right). They were all delicately and expertly constructed enjoyable morsels: exactly as afternoon tea should be. The chocolate tart was a rich and satisfying wave of flavour and the macaroon was excellent.

Scones were as incredible as we had expected. These were small, soft, warm and a stunning, comforting treat. The plain and fruit scones were equally delicious and the clotted cream and jam merely added a glorious rich finish. There is something about miniature scones which annoys me a bit, but when they taste this good it doesn't matter so much.

It was a fun experience having afternoon tea in the downstairs spa but the wife and I both agreed that it was better the first time. When you're in one of London's most famous hotels, there's something to be said for the grandour and splendour of the promenade and the service upstairs was better in general. The fact that the sandwiches were unequivocally better upstairs was the main factor in deciding, but I will say this: had I just come out of a spa afternoon at The Dorchester, I would be proclaiming this as the best afternoon tea ever. If you're going to eat here, make sure you've had a steam and a massage first.

Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester

Ducksoup: Soho, Friday 14th September, 2012

Food trends in London are pretty easy to follow these days. To be a hip, successful new venture, the following basic rules should be adhered:

1. Set up shop in somewhere unfancy and rough around the edges
2. Do not accept reservations
3. Keep your menu so simple as to list ingredients only, not dishes
4. Charge prices which attract diners but keep riff-raff away
5. Change your menu on a daily basis
6. Emphasise classic combinations but with popular modern ingredients

I think that covers it... Most new places in the east or west end these days stick to the above six points and it was last September that the wife, a friend and I tried one a place at the forefront of London's new restaurant movement: Ducksoup.

We went there on a whim, with me having convinced the wife that we didn't need to go to Chinatown for something quick and convenient whilst we had one of the hippest places in town a few minutes away. As such, there was a bit riding on this one because if I ever get my way, woe betide me if it's the wrong way.

Since you can't book and it was a Friday evening, we had to be content with a row of three stools at the downstairs bar. Downstairs itself is a brick-walled, big-mirrored bar with menus hand-written (they change daily for dinner and lunch) and wine scrawled all over the mirrors. It's actually genuinely relaxed and welcoming but not pretentious. The lighting was dim enough that we could ignore everyone but our behind the bar server and each other, so we assessed our options and proceeded to eat in the best way there is: ordering a big selection for three which we could all share.

After some rough-cut crusty bread and sweet, creamy butter to start, we decided ham was the way to go, firstly with some speck and mozzarella (left). Speck in its Italian incarnation (the one that most London places use) means prosciutto ham; thin, delicate and salty. In this case it was draped over some seasoned fresh mozzarella cheese which was a beautifully light, vibrant and creamy counter to the rich meat. It was an extraordinarily simple starter but it was executed so exceptionally that all three of us devoured it with little conversation or grace. Mind you, for £8, cheese and ham had better be great.

Next up was lardo on toast (right). This really was pork simplicity. Lardo is back fat which has been preserved and cured to retain flavour and silky texture whilst being so downright bad for you that it must be good. In this case it did taste delicious but it was undermined a bit by the overly-toasted bread which was so dry as to literally cut through the fat on top.


As well as the obvious charm of being penned almost personally for diners' enjoyment, the menu is organised delightfully as follows: Bar, Kitchen £4, Kitchen £14, Sides, Pudding, Cheese. To be honest, that's what I want all my menus to look like. There is not a great deal of rhyme or reason outside of small dishes, medium dishes, more expensive dishes and desserts and that's what leads to great, unfussy eating. And when I can get quail, harissa and burnt lemon on any menu for £4, I'm happy (left). Unfortunately, the quail was overwhelmed by the spicy sauce for me. The yoghurt was a nice touch but it was still enough to make the lips throb which I wasn't so keen on.

There was one dish on the main (£14) menu which appealed to us above any other: duck. Breast served with figs and sherry was about right for fourteen quid and when the dish came it was so impressive we quickly ordered another one (right). Perfectly cooked, maintaining beautiful robust texture but a perfect strong, fleshy taste, this was a duck breast cooked exactly as it should have been. Crispy skin was another necessarily excellent touch and the accompanying baked fig was sweet and juicy to sit perfectly with the tart sherry jus. I pretty much had one of these to myself and left the girls to finish one between two.

We went with two side dishes for the duck. Thinking back, I'm quite impressed and appalled in equal measure about how much was ordered and finished without much thought. I suppose it is testament to the quality of the food that we just kept eating. It didn't stop with some baked potato which was seemingly baked in and served with butter (left). These were lovely because there was some pleasant variation with the textures and tastes, mainly because they had been cooked as a gratin. Some cuttlefish with rosemary also somehow made its way to the table which was certainly one for the wife (right). This was a small pot of crispy squid which was finished off in no time. For £4 it was just about right, if seemingly unnecessary.

I had to give at least one pudding a go, and at £6, I was quite intrigued by the black plum tart (left). This was less a tart than a pie in truth, but one which was sweet, filling and totally uncomplicated. It was delicious, made whole with the soured cream on the side, enabling the fruit to come to the fore whilst the pastry was flaky and flavoursome enough to be supportive without dominating. The wife wasn't so keen but our friend and I polished it off without any problems.

Since she had not really had dessert, the wife insisted we go to Madd for some further indulgence which was every bit as kooky and enjoyable as it had been on our first visit but the evening belonged to Ducksoup. Embodying everything one should enjoy about the modern restaurant without being clichéd, the meal was a delight. I would say I'll be back there but I already have been and that's a review for another time.

I must recommend this place but the chances are if you know anything about food in London you will have been there already or at least heard about it. And since most of the press is good, let me just say that the hype in this case is justified.

Ducksoup