London Dining - St. John

The following is a summary of my culinary adventures in London last November (2004). There are scattered travel, site seeing and theatre notes as well, but mostly it is all about the food.

St. John
We arrived a few minutes late for our reservation (had to finish that St. Peters ale across the street) which was no problem. Our party of four was seated in the dining room, with a clear view of the kitchen. From the minute I walked in, I liked the place. The space is somewhat industrial - high ceilings, poured concrete floors downstairs, wide plank wooden floors in the dining room, stark white walls - and you have the feeling that you are sitting in a cafeteria - which I love - give me good food, setting be damned! I am perfectly content to leave the high profile interior decorators alone to woo food critics and their ilk. One slightly offsetting initial reaction was the smell. St. John smells a bit like a butcher's shop - which is befitting the neighborhood and the menu - and didn't bother me in the slightest - but one of our party mentioned it several times.

For starters our party had pickled herring, potted mallard and venison heart. All three were amazing. The pickled herring was some of the best I had ever tasted - sweet and briny, without losing any of the underlying herring flavor or texture. The potted mallard was very like a duck confit - chunks of mallard blended with what the waitress described as pork fat - and served with toast points and cornichon - outstanding. To be honest, the venison heart was the best of all. I was a little squeamish ordering it - but had faith in Fergus. The meat was very tender and served in thin slices au jus with some candied walnuts. Everyone at the table tried it and all of them - at least momentarily - suspended any doubts that had about offal.

For mains, we had tripe & chips, teal and braised cabbage and the pheasant & trotter stew. There were several other dishes we wanted to try, all of which were sold out (lamb neck, veal shin and snails/sausage/chickpeas among them). The teal was rather small and therefore rather difficult to eat, but the meat was magnificent - quite unlike any I had ever had. The flavor was clearly fowl, but the texture was like tenderloin - dense muscle with no marbling at all. The tripe and chips surprised a lot of us as well. Had we not known it was tripe, many would have easily mistaken it for some of the best fried squid they had ever tasted - moist, slightly sweet - not at all chewy - and with a very light, crispy batter.

The pheasant and trotter stew was a sight to behold - a massive bowl covered in dough, pulled straight out of the oven with a shin bone smokestack sticking out (I thought it was just whimsical presentation until I realized that the convection currents in the hot liquid actually pulled a lot of the marrow flavor into the stew - very smart). At first cut, the stew itself seemed very thin and runny (I managed to drop a piece of crust into the bowl and splash not only myself, but another of our party sitting across the table), but once you broke up the crust and floated it in the stew, the whole dish took on a thick, porridge consistency. The flavor of the marrow came through, as did the pheasant. The trotters themselves appeared in the dish as diced bits - no bones - and may actually have been smoked slightly before going into the stew (think of the fatty bits at the end of a ham hock). A very simple and very British dish - perfect for warming you up on a chilly night. We drank Bourgogne throughout the meal, which seemed to work well - nobody was in the mood for a white wine after the St. Peters and we were all a little concerned that anything with more backbone would drown out Fergus' delicate seasoning.

Unlike J. Sheekey - where dessert was a bit of a let down (though, I managed to choke it all down - and may have licked the plate), at St. John, I thought the desserts excelled. We had a sticky prune pudding and an apple cake served with jersey cream. You definitely knew which country you were in. The pudding was delightful - warm and gooey, spicy, and served with a little pitcher of whole cream to cut the sweetness. The apple cake was served warm and the jersey cream - while artery clogging - was a delightful pairing (like smothering clotted cream on a slice of warm apple tart). The bill came out to around 70 pounds per couple (45 per couple food cost) - which we all thought was a terrific bargain.

So, all-in, St. John delivered, as promised. I think too many critics (and we were guilty of this at first as well) focus on the novelty of serving "nose to tail" cuisine. We are all jaded and accustomed to restaurants that have good ratings because of their "hook," so at first glance, it is easy to assume that Fergus is doing something that is different, not necessarily better. All of those critics are wrong. While the offal is very much in your face (many of the uninitiated - myself included - will be hard pressed to decipher the menu that includes things like "bath chap," "teal," etc.) - the wait staff is very friendly and helpful and can walk you through the menu. If you still aren't a believer, there are many more pedestrian dishes on the menu as well. The bottom line is that, offal aside, Fergus is serving very fresh ingredients, of the highest quality, expertly prepared (and quintessentially British), in a no frills setting and at reasonable prices. For that alone, it would be worth a trip across the pond - leave the formal French service, renowned interior decorators, celebrities and supermodels to the Zagats crowd.

London Dining - Harrods / Yo! Sushi / Jerusalem Tavern

The following is a summary of my culinary adventures in London last November (2004). There are scattered travel, site seeing and theatre notes as well, but mostly it is all about the food.

Harrods
We spent the morning wandering around Knightsbridge and getting lost in Harrods. Speaking of Harrods, what in the hell is a Krispy Kreme stall doing in the food halls at Harrods? I know, I need some rare teas, a bit of caviar, some jamon serrano and oh yes - one of your original honey glazed?!?!?!?! What a disappointment - sometimes I am embarrassed to be a colonist.We had an unremarkable lunch at the Knightsbridge Cafe (I think I consumed more second hand smoke than food) - though, oddly enough, they had a dressing on their salads that was a pretty strict adherence to a traditional vinaigrette. I wouldn't travel over there for some salad dressing, it was just funny to have something like that sitting next to a toasted ham & cheese sandwich. We skipped tea (sadly) in favor of a light snack at Yo! Sushi.

Yo! Sushi
What can I say? This chain is popping up all over the place - and for good reason. What it lacks in terms of variety and quality, it more than makes up for in convenience and fun. For those that haven't been, you sit at a counter, like a 50s style American diner. In front of you is a water tap and embedded in the counter is a well containing pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce. All of the sushi parades by you in individual containers that continuously flow along the bar on a conveyer belt. We tried some salmon and tuna sashimi as well as a variety of rolls, some fish balls, and udon noodles. The tuna sashimi was a little suspect, but everything else was passable (remember, this is take out or "fast food" caliber sushi). We had more fun scoping out the dishes as the shuttled around the bar than we did eating the food, but I guess that is why you go to Yo!. All-in, it came to about 10 pounds per person, which is expensive for what it is, but in London, it costs you nearly that much to cross the street, so go figure. BTW - the one pound per person charge for water (still or sparkling) is a bit excessive, don't you think?

From Yo!, we headed to the Silver Vaults. I don't know how I missed this little treasure when I was living in London, but the Silver Vaults are a very unique experience. I am a little hazy on the history here, but the current version is in the middle of the legal district, where approximately 40 silver merchants have set up shop in the old vaults. Some specialize in serving pieces, others in flatware, etc. Anything and everything you could ever want to find in sterling silver is available for purchase there. It was a very interesting diversion. From there, we wandered through the old diamond district and made our way to the Jerusalem Tavern.

Jerusalem Tavern
Thank you again to those that made this recommendation. The tavern is very small - two tables up front, four stools at the bar, one table on a riser and two more tables in back. When we walked in (with Harrod's bags in hand) we felt like complete outsiders (anyone remember that scene from the Blue Oyster Bar in Police Academy?) but after a few pints of St. Peters, we got it all worked out. Jerusalem Tavern serves St. Peters ales - which are unlike anything I have had before. I tried both the Cream Stout and the Spiced Ale.

The Cream Stout was served cold and nearly flat, was dark as night, and was a great combination of chocolate nose, with a creamy/chewy mouth feel and a slightly sweet but clean finish (warm on the way down too, at 6.5% alcohol). The Spiced Ale was also very dark and smelled like a winter pie - all cinnamon and allspice. The finish on this one was somewhat more bitter and tighter than the cream stout - I didn't get a chance to ask the bartender, but it tasted something like juniper berries on the finish. All-in, a great place to get in out of the cold - and a perfect recommendation for a drink before dinner at St. John.

London Dining - Hakkasan / F&M / Three Greyhounds / Golden Dragon

The following is a summary of my culinary adventures in London last November (2004). There are scattered travel, site seeing and theatre notes as well, but mostly it is all about the food.

Hakkasan
We went to Hakkasan for lunch (though we skipped breakfast, so it was technically a dim sum brunch). Hakkasan Very cool lounge scene - thank you to everyone who recommended that we make it here for lunch, not dinner. I can see how this setting would easily devolve into a velvet rope nightmare after dark. We ordered chive dumplings, Har Gau, pork shumai, Singapore vermicelli, Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce and chrysanthemum tea - all of which managed to both adhere to our traditional notions of what they should be while exceeding any we had ever had before (if that makes any sense). The chive dumplings were unique - with the actual dumpling wrapper incorporating the chives, as opposed to the filling (picture a green dumpling). The Har Gau was another standout - we could easily have eaten 2-3 orders of these they were so good. The dumplings in particular stand out not only because the ingredients were so fresh, but also because you could identify all of the individual components. Rather than being a grey ball of pork-tasting meat, at Hakkasan, you can identify individual peanuts, bean sprouts, etc. The service was attentive without being too overly burdensome and the total bill of 37.50 pounds, while steep, was very worth it. NB - the bathrooms are an adventure. From there we headed out for more shopping and spent a good bit of time on Jermynn Street before dropping into Fortnam & Mason for tea.

F&M
Mind you, we opted to order a pot of tea with a side of scones from the restaurant on the ground floor as opposed to the 19.95 pounds per person variety of tea that was being served upstairs. An average pot of tea with scones that I believe came from a frozen package, but I doubt the tourists who were just so delighted that "the Queen shops here" even noticed. Skip it - I would go back to Liberty any day. From there we did some more walking / window shopping through SoHo and then wound up at the Three Greyhounds pub for a few pints before we went to see The Woman in White (quite good show actually, despite a score that is somewhat less than original - as my wife said, "if you liked Sunset Boulevard, you'll love Woman in White - you already know the songs").

Three Greyhounds
We drank at Three Greyhounds, but I was dying to order a bit of their Colcannon - it smelled absolutely divine. Not sure if anyone knows about this pub - it is tiny and seemed remarkably free of tourists, especially given its proximity to so many theatres, etc. After the show (BTW - when did they stop selling Magnum bars in the theatre? I had been looking forward to that post-intermission guilty pleasure all during the first act and absolutely could not find one anywhere), we decided to wander into Chinatown, with no particular destination in mind. After passing a bunch of old favorites, we finally settled into Golden Dragon - for no reason other than it was still open (it was 11:30 on a Monday night).

Golden Dragon
Lots of post-theatre folks here, lots of cigarette smoke and quintessential china town decor, but it reminded me of just how good your average Chinese restaurant in London can be. Seriously, I had forgotten how bad the stuff is in the States. We had a hot & sour soup, a wonton soup and a kung pao chicken - how generic can you get? It didn't matter - all were quite good, and at that hour of the night, completely fit the bill. Still, nothing to write to Michelin about. After dinner, we raced across the street (Gerrard) to the little Chinese bakery (I forgot the name), where we caught the owner just as he was about to close and persuaded him to sell us some sesame balls. We devoured the gooey, greasy, lotus root filled dough balls as soon as we got into our taxi and loved every artery clogging moment of it. You should definitely check this place out - those sesame balls are addictive!

London Dining - Liberty / Gordon's / J. Sheekey

The following is a summary of my culinary adventures in London last November (2004). There are scattered travel, site seeing and theatre notes as well, but mostly it is all about the food.

Liberty
We had a fairly standard tea (pot of tea, egg & cress, cucumber & cream cheese and salmon sandwiches followed by clotted cream and scones) all of which was quite good. The setting was very warm and comfortable as well. I can't say I recommend it as a culinary destination, but if you find yourself out and about in the Regent Street area, it is a very nice place to go and escape from the throngs of pushy tourists et. al. From there we continued shopping and ultimately retreated to Gordon's wine bar.

Gordon's
Gordon's is a lovely wine cellar turned bar just up from Trafalgar Square (I believe). The newspaper articles on the wall described it as "Dickensonian" which it may well be, but I prefer to describe it as equal parts wine cellar, pub, fraternity party and brothel (in other words, I loved it). We ordered an unremarkable bottle of Bourgogne, stepped past the crowded bar and over the couples in various states of passion and found a quiet corner to enjoy the bottle. From there, we headed to J. Sheekey for dinner.

J. Sheekey
Our party of four ordered a variety of starters and mains and shared them all. Starters included lobster bisque, cress soup and roasted squid and padron peppers. I was unable to obtain a taste of the bisque - which attests to how good it was - and the cress soup was a deliciously simple preparation, with the bitterness of the cress tempered by crème fraiche (the smoked salmon on a blini on the side was a nice touch). By far the best dish was the squid/padron peppers starter. Picture a cazuela of hot olive oil and garlic and then toss in raw baby squid and padron peppers - the result was melt-in-your-mouth tender squid and "pinch me, I think I am in Madrid" pimientos del padron. My love of Spanish food is documented elsewhere on these pages, so I admit to a sampling bias, but this dish really sent me. We drank a semi-sweet Vouvray throughout the meal, which was a bit too little for the squid, but then again, it was ordered with the main event in mind.

For main courses, our party shared the Dover sole, grilled prawns and prawn/monkfish curry. I ordered the curry - which sounds like an oddball choice - but in the end it was a coin toss between that and the fish and chips. Anyway, the Dover sole was as good as its billing. It managed to be tender and juicy without being overly oily and despite my initial doubts, paired well with a dab of béarnaise sauce (I was worried that the fish would be rendered as little more than a conduit for the béarnaise, but was happy to be proved wrong). My curry was very good as well. The monkfish and prawns were cooked to perfection and the curry was a slightly sweet version that really accentuated the monkfish and helped complete the trick that monkfish often plays - that of masquerading on the palate as lobster. The dish was served with rice that was beautifully perfumed with cardamom and saffron. The big surprise here was the grilled prawns. These langoustine-sized monsters were dished up 7 to a plate and served with a sweet/sour chutney that was a nice compliment to the smokey/salty meat.

We finished with a honeycomb ice cream and an apple crisp, both of which were very good, but suffered somewhat from being the second act to so many wonderful fish dishes.

London Dining - Borough Market / New Tayabs

The following is a summary of my culinary adventures in London last November (2004). There are scattered travel, site seeing and theatre notes as well, but mostly it is all about the food.

Borough Market
Unbelievable. I was blown away by the variety and quality of offerings. In addition to the tid bits we sampled from the stalls, we purchased a ham & cheese coissant (brilliant - would have been better had we been patient enough to take it home and warm it, but we had been up all night and needed something in our belly). We followed that with a coriander pancake stuffed with chicken curry which was delightful. The little Indian woman who was selling them claimed to have been up at 2AM making them - and I absolutely believe her. Next we picked up some blueberry cookies from a woman who also had a deep dish blueberry pie that looked completely sinful, but impracticle for munching on the go. Finally, we finished off a visit to Neals Yard and one of the highly touted cheese toasties. Wow. I had been made fun of all morning by our hosts who hadn't heard of said toastie and thought my quest for it somewhat quixotic. One bite of the crunchy, creamy, cheesey slice of heaven and they all stopped asking questions. In fact, one of our party asked - what other recommendations did your friends make?

We grabbed a pint in a pub afterwards and shared some chips and bangers and mash. Nothing notable here, but good comfort food when it is in the 30s and rainy outside.

New Tayabs
Our party of three arrived around 7:00 and were seated immediately in the "garden" room next door. At first we were slightly put off (and cold) but in the end I would highly recommend sitting out there - it was much cooler and less smokey, plus, you don't have throngs of people waiting to get a table looking over your shoulder.We began with meat samosas, the lamb chops and a fish masala, all of which were excellent, but rendered the Sauvignon Blanc we brought with us about as flavorful as tap water. The samosas were a brilliant juxtaposition of crispy outer layer and doughy inner layer and the meat filling was an earthy cinnamon/allspice/lamb blend. The lamb chops were coated in a deliciously spicy layer, albeit slightly tough. My favorite was the fish masala, which was took on a remarkable depth that belied the initial spicy outer layer. For mains, we ordered various chick pea, lamb, and chicken dishes (I forget all of the names - we opted to order multiple "small" portions to maximize the variety). All of the choices were excellent, but the stand-out was the lamb bhuna. While incendiary, it possessed multiple layers of flavor that made each bite more enjoyable than the previous one (somewhat akin to the feeling one gets when eating a really good Mexican mole). We uncorked an Australian Chardonnay to pair with these dishes - it fared much better than the Sauv. Blanc. We finished with mango lassi which were terrific, but HUGE. Seriously, we could have ordered just one of them and three straws! All-in, the bill came to just slightly over 10 pounds per person - and it would have been a bargain at 2-3x that price.