…in my dreams, they are delivered through sealed message tubes passed directly from the Arzak to Ametsa kitchens, through an elaborate infrastructure of pneumatically controlled subsea pipelines, flowing through the Bay of Biscay into the English Channel. On one hand, it should be obvious that quality of food is controlled by proxy by those wizards in Donostia. On the other, perhaps there is substance to this rumour of self-sabotage. The Arzaks may not wish for it to do (too) well lest it eclipses the original. A ‘celebrity’ restaurant then is what Ametsa is, like those operated by the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, which attempt to transpose those culinary experiences – so rooted in its locality – to an alien environment. Securing a booking was difficult and a late Friday lunch in mid April was the earliest I could manage. So I was a little surprised by the empty lunch service. May this be due in part to the rush of lukewarm reviews that has flooded the internet so far? It’s only been open for a month and yet it’s already been shot to death by the London media. This social proof has definitely coloured my expectations, in contrast to before it opened, though some part of me still thinks that any spinoff by the world’s most famous culinary family could only produce nothing less than greatness. While it is
It’s not that I don’t like ‘high end’ Chinese food, it’s just that I don’t think the cooking is good enough to set it apart from (say) the average Chinese restaurant. Yes that Ling Ling bar is still genius interior design after all these years, but food just isn’t at the same level as the bling. On the other hand, it is hard to put aside preconceptions of Chinese food as a value driven feast. Even for the regality of banquet cuisine, it’s still about abundance, more abalone, more Louis XIII, more dried scallops. I think it’s inherent in the culture, making it difficult to translate it into something more …until I ate here. Bo London is by Alvin Leung, born in Britain, raised in Canada, who established himself in Hong Kong. An acoustic engineer by profession but who became a self-taught cook. He goes by the nickname ‘Demon Chef’ whose practice of ‘X-treme Chinese’ cooking has earned his HK restaurant, Bo Innovation, two michelin stars. He brings his X-tremities to our shores, the food taking on a British accent along the way, whilst remaining fundamentally Chinese. He’s certainly eccentric and there is absolutely nobody in the business (especially in London) whose work is as colourful as Alvin’s. I still have this reverence for HK restaurants and so Alvin bringing his cooking to London is definitely exciting news to me
All signs indicate that we are about to witness the second emergence of ramen in London; But this time, perhaps with less national franchise designs, and more of a focused effort on being small scale, independent, an identity differentiated by quality recipes. You already know about the pioneering ones namely Tonkotsu and Bone Daddies. Soon, Tim Anderson (past Masterchef Champ) will throw his new baby, Namban, into the fray sometime later this year. You have probably also read of the exponential rise in standards as these guys continue to tweak their maturing bowls of water, bone & flour, based on their collective experiences. Each has already dug a nice corner of the market for themselves, thanks in part to our ongoing, unquenchable appetite for the one-plate specialists. Shoryu comes by way of Japan Centre, the long time importer of everything Japanese, which has long sold fast Japanese food from their (relocated) Lower Regent Street grocery shop and their restaurant Toku. If I’m not mistaken, they also operate a satellite outpost in Westfield Stratford, which sell takeaway noodles & fried bites under the Shoryu banner. Fukouka born chef Kanji Furukawa is the point-man for Shoryu, practicing the Hakata style which originates from his native Kyushu. His soup base is a tonkotsu (pork bone) broth, identified by a milky appearance and use of thin, uncurled noodles. My first visit to Shoryu was
Happy new year! So how are we all finding 2013 so far? All good I hope, and I also hope you made the most to completely over do it over the holiday period. In the Leong household, we opted out of the usual cote de boeuf and decided on iberico pork pluma, bought from the new(ish) Scotch butcher at Selfridges. Sliced thickly and pan-fried to medium rare – Pizarro style – I finished off with a coating of Italian white truffle butter (turns out to be multi-purpose, as they work well for breakfast eggs the next morning too). This made the already rich, oozing and overwhelming fatty pork even more shockingly intense. But dammit, it was exactly the kind of over the top gluttony that I expected for Christmas. I thought this particular cut from the hallowed breed shared loads of similarities with Wagyu, but substantially cheaper than its bovine counterpart, Japanese or otherwise. Which brings me to talk of Caravan’s excellent New Zealand reared wagyu, supplied by Firstlight, which considering the pedigree, appears completely underpriced, and at current prices, an absolute steal given the quality of meat on offer. At present, it is only represented as a single rib-eye dish and it probably won’t (yet) undo the Goodmans and Hawksmoors in London. But I do wonder if FL’s produce might one day find itself on a Goodman chalkboard. You
Last year was definitely exciting with the number of new openings, pop-ups going permanent, burgers, ribs and things like that. I was sure that this year wasn’t going to match the relentlessness of the past two, but I guess I was wrong, especially with burgers – there’s never more choice and of such high quality. You can even get a decent burger in a supposedly Thai cafe, by someone who won a michelin star cooking Thai food. Next year though, we will get Shake Shack, but till then, I think the toast for the time being is Patty & Bun. 2012 has also entertained the rise of Ramen. The three pioneers Tonkotsu, Bone Daddies and Shoryu between them have amassed their own set of loyalist, which is great, and so it’ll be interesting to see how this gathers pace. It must also have been a banner year for Pitt Cue Co, really they do fantastic ribs, and maybe they’ll have made enough to afford a bigger place to fit us all in. But what I’m most happy about is the re-emergence of the French Brasserie – truly back with a vengeance. LOVE Garnier & the impossibly affordable Zedel. About the only new trend, I didn’t get were the Peruvian offerings. Maybe next year. Anyway, so for what it’s worth, as I do every year, here are twelve moments in my
It gives me great pleasure to write about my favourite Japanese restaurant in London, recently relaunched and relocated to Bayswater and renamed …The Shiori! Owned & operated by Chef Takagi-san and his wife Hitomi-san, this entire labour of love has finally shaken off previous trappings of having to pander to Edo sushi to fully embrace what Takagi-sensei does best: Kyoto style Kaiseiki. They have expanded capacity from 6-7 covers to take a maximum of 12 to 16. Both Hitomi-san and Takagi-san each have an extra pair of hands helping on the floor and in the kitchen. The decor is of elegant polished wood, bamboo sliding paper doors, and Japanese style dining booths. It finally looks like a small family run restaurant which you might find along the side streets of Nishiki market. It is located in a completely unassuming street near Bayswater station and discovering it is just like discovering those famous little sushi-yas in Tokyo (like say Saito in a car park). You still get a view into the kitchen to watch Takagi at work, but it is no longer as up close and personal as the old Drummond Street setup – they have done away with the sushi bar which overlooks the kitchen. This move has experienced a few weeks of delay, dragging its initial November relaunch to December, and I know a few of you have been
UPDATE – JAN 2013. *Ben Spalding & Nathan Holmes have left John Salt. Neil Rankin now runs the kitchen over there.* So after last week’s blockbuster dinner at John Salt, I wanted to return and try Ben Spalding’s other offerings from his current residency at the Islington based bar cum restaurant. For this visit, it was for the bar menu offered in the downstairs, which takes no reservations. I noticed that in evenings, the place gets fairly dark so last week, I was insulated from admiring the truly beautiful decked out decor. It’s a continuous massive floor plan, with a long bar, different ‘zones’ a sofa area, then some bistro style tables, with long booth style ones too, and I must admit, I much prefer the downstairs bit to the upstairs. As you can probably tell, you can sit here all afternoon to enjoy a book or read the paper, order a couple of wraps, a few coffees, etc. The bar menu. Initially, we chose to sit at the back of the bar, content to hide away in a comfortable corner to kill the Saturday afternoon. The bar menu is supposed to be much lighter than the upstairs menu, dishes averaging £7-£8. You could also choose any six for £34 which seems to work out to a substantial discount to ordering ALC. So we decided to do that and were
UPDATE – JAN 2013. *Ben Spalding has left John Salt. Neil Rankin now runs the kitchen over there.* It was only April when Ben Spalding confirmed his inevitable departure from Roganic, the long term pop-up, where he solidified his reputation as a next gen force to be reckoned coming of age. Since then, he’s spent the summer running two pop-ups starting with the occasional RoastSundays (which I tried) in collaboration with Daniel Young, and secondly his smart street-style Stripped Back project (which I missed), which took place at a school playground in London Fields. I’m a fan of his cooking, you know, and there is no doubt that Ben has proven his talent in his field. Though what is most admirable about Ben’s stuff is his ambition in changing traditional ideas about hospitality. With John Salt, he’s moved to another pop-up project, this time resident for a shorter initial period of six month, set across a large two storey space. This appears to consolidate all his previous work up to now under one roof, and is the perhaps his most ambitious yet. On the ground level, the bar/mess hall serves an all day ‘bar food’ menu (ala Stirpped Back) Monday to Saturdays (any 6 courses for £34), sunday roasts are laid on for £19 with pudding. For dinner, Ben pulls out all the stops at the 25 seater mezzanine level,
You might have heard the name Yoshihiro Murata lately as he and Alan Yau have just opened Chrysan in London, to largely mixed reviews. Murata owns 3 restaurants in Japan, all of which specialise in Kyoto style Kaiseiki. Two are located in Kyoto and the third in Tokyo, holding a total of 7 michelin stars between them. Chef Murata is something of a living legend (so the internet believes), he is Japan’s starriest chef and is the 3rd generation to inherit the family business which began in 1912. Kikunoi means ‘Chrysanthemum well’ , and on his website, there is a nice exposition on how this name came about. If Tokyo is urban and frenetic, then Kyoto is exactly the opposite: idyllic and civilised. The former are the originators of modern day fresh fish for sushi toppings, while Kyoto is known for its old fashion pickled sushi, such as the sabazushi ever present throughout these parts. The old capital shows its heritage and I could swear that this apparent idyll includes strategically positioned speakers embedded in sheltered walk ways along the high street, and especially inside Nishiki food market, that play out peacefully hipnotic muzak style tunes. It’s boiling hot in the summer, probably because of its valley location. It is also a beautiful city. We didn’t plan for a kaiseiki in Kyoto as we had two Ryokans stays in Hakone
About 7 years ago, I lived directly above what is now Eric and Didier Garnier’s eponymous French brasserie. Back in those days, a Spanish restaurant occupied that space and I remembered it being a dark, old and musty kind of decor serving food that is best forgotten. So to see what the new owners have done with the place – clearing out the cobwebs and replacing it with a beautiful & nostalgic red, white and gold decor – is a little surreal. There was a time when bistros were on the rise but the deregulation of tastes continued beyond timeless cooking and promptly died when ‘gourmerised’ American fast food started taking off. But I sense a revival in the making, after all, who doesn’t love a bit of butter and cream? Eric is ex-Racine and at one time ran it together with Henry Harris. His brother Didier runs Le Colombier in Chelsea – also a Parisian-style brasserie – and before that, Eric has had a long career being associated with many a London restaurants in the past. In the kitchen they have enlisted Swedish chef Andreas Engberg – also ex-Racine – to lead proceedings and together this team has recreated the joy of the brasserie experience. The menu comes in a nice retro red leather binder with laminated pages. The ALC isn’t cheap with mains ranging from £20-£32 but you
I decided to revisit Jose Pizarro’s flagship restaurant which I still believe was one of the best openings last year, along with its sister sherry Bar Jose just a few doors down in Bermondsey Street. The massive weekend queues appear to have completely died down now, as we arrived just after midday on Saturday to an empty restaurant. I had spent the morning queuing up for a book signing with photography legend Daido Moriyama at the Tate. He signed my copy of Record 1-5 (2008 reprint). The Pizarro way is a simple premise. Sparse selection of ingredients but of high available quality. Classical, accurate and orthodox, very correct and dare I say ‘safe’ cooking. I think it’s probably why the Brindisa restaurants still thrive to this day, allowing the quality of ingredients to stand out. His food always manages to taste fresh and vibrant, in contrast to all of the innovation Spain’s cutting edge chefs have generated recently. On this visit, those basic recipes have taken on greater complexity with its pairing of flavours and food has achieved even better balance. The ingredients still appear to taste very fresh, of high quality and I think Pizarro a better restaurant today, than when it opened almost a year ago. Sardines, aubergines, toast, £8. So here’s a prime example of the amazing ingredient combo at work. The sweet aubergines complimenting the oily
It’s not the best burger in London, not gourmet or blockbuster, but it is good. Especially with their house bearnaise. This London pop-up (so I’ve heard on Monocle Radio) comes by way of long time Icelandic burger-joint owner Tommi Tómasson who has ported it from his (current) Hamborgara búllan chain in his native country. And who has eaten a burger every day for the last 8 years. Things are kept very simple here, a standard burger with standard fixings (and American cheese). The patty is made from chuck and this can be upgraded to the steak version, a hache mix of rump, ribeye and fillet. The cheeseburger costs £5.80 on its own, £9.40 with fries and a drink, while the steak burger is £8.75 with cheese and a small pot of bearnaise. Beef is supplied by HG Walter right by Barons Court tube who specialise in oft-forgotten Scotch Angus beef, which may not be the tenderest of them all, but certainly has good flavour. The cheeseburger. The cheeseburger, dissected. The steak burger. I’ve been on two separate occasions now and had both versions of the patty and think that both are really quite delicious. The first time it was jammed packed over lunch hour and I think I waited about 10-15 minutes for my order. On the 2nd visit, the place was real quite, maybe one or two tables, and
A few weeks after it opened, Bubbledogs – the hotdogs & champagne bar – continues to entertain massive queues to rival the likes of Meatwagon’s restaurants. I went there a couple of weeks ago and while I think the whole setup is decent and understand why its successful, I don’t quite understand why some would stand in the rain for ‘just’ hotdogs (and the opportunity to pair it with sparkling wine). ‘&’ – the adjoining project attached to Bubbledogs on the other hand, is much more ambitious and much more interesting from my perspective as a blogger. The owners are the now well-known husband and wife owners of James Knappett (ex-sous at Ledbury and ex-head chef at Marcus Wareing, after Alyn Williams) and Sandia Chang (most recently FOH at Roganic). It seemed like we’ve been waiting all year for it open and even though I’ve only just returned from a long break to Japan; I made sure this was the first place I visited as soon as the first bookings became available. So this was a very exciting meal for me. Many have drawn parallels between James’ Kitchen Table with the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare in New York, in which diners (very fashionably) sit at a bar fashioned around an open kitchen, exposing the cooking process to the customer. There are 19 covers at this particular kitchen table, and
Takashi Saito needs little introduction. His tiny 7 seat sushi-ya, literally a small hole inside an anonymous office building car park is the epitome of a well-hidden, well-respected and well-loved gem. Saito-san holds three michelin stars, and is considered one of the celebrated top 5 or 6 sushi chefs in Tokyo – if not the world – held in similar regard with the famous Jiro Ono, Koji Sawada, Mizutani and Shinji Kanesaka. Or at least according to the general view of online foodsters today. Every sushi master has his own take on ‘perfection’ and Saito-san’s style is seen to be the traditionalist or perhaps the most austere of the illustrious lot. This means smaller cuts of fish (or neta, the topping) and comparatively strong flavoured shari (rice) which employs red vinegar and salt to compliment his tuna pieces, or so say The Red Guide & blogs. Despite the modesty of his operation, he is probably the most foreigner friendly (and camera tolerant). I even managed this meal by myself without a Japanese speaking chaperone. This – I’ve read – is in total contrast to say Sukiyabashi Jiro in Ginza. There are conflicting accounts of where he apprenticed – Kanesaka or Kyubei – and there is claim that he shares his fish sources with Kanesaka. But given that Shinji-san & Takashi-san are about the same age, I’m guessing the old Ginza
It wasn’t because I was up 40 floors of glass and metal, rather I was quivering at the sheer breakneck speed with which the lift hurled up to the heavens. Watching the marvellous financial heartbeat of Europe seemingly shrink under my feet was completely vertigo inducing. When the lift stopped and I looked into the distance, I have to say, the view wasn’t half bad. The panoramic vantage was only matched by the magnificent decor. Duck & Waffle and its sister restaurant, Sushi Samba on the floor below, are nothing short of engineering feats and interior design ingenuity. Ah yes. The pinnacle of modernity, civilisation, the by product and triumph of capitalism, the future of hospitality changed forever …. The air must be very thin up here, as grand delusions extend to the food menu, where boundaries are so obscure, that my waiter insisted I share every plate of food I ordered, even as I was dining alone. The menu appears to use various European recipes, though it is the namesake signature dish which grabs the most attention. It’s definitely the first time I’ve seen waffle, duck confit and maple syrup on the same plate, in a restaurant. Perhaps in another era, this may be written off as being completely bonkers, but we live in bolder times and maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s really quite creative. Scallop, apple, black truffle,
I went to this restaurant nearly two months ago, it had been so long ago now, that even the menus have completely changed on their official website. Situated in St John’s Wood, One Blenheim Terrace is local for me – it’s 10 minutes on the bus – and it is certainly one of a tiny pool of decent restaurants in this part of town. The Chef Patron is Ed Shaerf, who cut his teeth in very glamorous kitchens including Claridges, The Ivy and the Fat Duck. Nostalgia is the theme of his solo restaurant, a homage to the good ol’ days. Given the new snack bars openings nearly every week, sometimes it is nice to take a break from the trendy things to ‘discover’ more conventional restaurants with considerably less buzz. Though I must admit, I wasn’t drawn to Ed’s revival of British retro ALC – which lists Duck Wellington, followed by Monkish Paella – but rather I was interested in one of Ed’s many set menu offers. Specifically the (now defunct) £25 six course dinner menu on Tuesdays. As of writing, this has been replaced with one that offers a whole lobster or large steak with chips and fizz, for the same face value. On ‘Flipping’ Wednesdays, the waiter flips a coin at the end of the meal, and winning the coin toss slashes the bill in half. No
Yay, I finally ate at Pitt Cue. It is impossible for you to not have heard about this enormously successful BBQ sensation. It has certainly been the most talked about restaurant this year. With its tiny 16 or so covers in the basement, it has entertained spectacularly patient diners willing to queue for hours just to taste their smoked meat. The food has got to be great I’m sure. I went last Friday at 1pm, and sat at the bar upstairs. There was no queue. I had the beef ribs with extra pulled pork , bone marrow mash and a glass of the house draught – the whatever. Certainly very good ribs, but not sure they are as godly as its hype. The meat was fall-off-the-bone juicy, and I would have gladly eaten another rack. I really like the thick wedge of toasted sourdough and thought the pulled pork was equally delicious. The marrow-gravy mash was a bit meh, but who cares right – it’s BBQ! I paid £23.06. It will be interesting to see how Pitt Cue is sustained after all the madness dies down. I think the food has definitely come on in leaps and bounds since its original truck days under Hungerford Bridge. I had attempted queuing before, even showing up before doors open, but we simply became too hungry and ended up settling for Bodeans nearby
After taking time out to launch his immaculately designed Polpo cookbook, Russell Norman (and Richard Beatty) are back to open the third arm of Polpo, the first outside of Soho and their sixth opening overall. I went along to a preview last Friday – I did not pay as it was a test run – and found that much of the same electric ambiance has been built into their latest Venetian-ish bacaro. The site is either the least narrow of them all or the first Polpo to have a dining room. The Negroni bar in the basement was not quite ready yet on this visit. While it may not see a church spire, this site does possess a modest skylight which illuminates a cosy (& romantic) corner table for two, tucked away behind the bar. That table features a sawed-off twist, generally speaking I like private hidden away corners in restaurants. It’s perfect for bloggers you know, we’re hideous creatures with heinous cameras and iPhones attached to our limbs. There is now inevitable standardisation as the growing Polpo brand is consolidated, though the off-shoots Mishkin’s and Spuntino remain unique; Polpetto with Florence Knight, having run its course at the French House, will relaunch sometime in the near future. I’d found out last month when I visited Da Polpo that it had quietly dropped its article, and now is simply Polpo
For my birthday this year, I was looking to drink something a little special and so BBR became an obvious choice for it carries a list of classy old world (and very collectible) wine labels but with modest mark-ups. Prices track closely to the market conditions, generally with 20 to 30% margin over retail and do present tremendous value compared to ‘finer’ establishments. Let’s see, there’s the now luxury brand right bank star, Cheval Blanc, the 1996 for £500; Conseillante, a consistent Pomerol estate (Merlot!) , from a generally positive vintage, 1990 for £526; ’98 La Mouline, the most feminine of the trio of ‘Lalas’ from Northern Rhone producer Guigal for £432. There’s even a Unico by Vega Sicilia, what is regarded as Spain’s version of a first growth, the 1999 for £317. 1985 Ch Haut Brion, Graves. £392 + 12.5% It was an easy decision to pick this claret. It’s got a quarter century of bottle age, and a glut of cellartracker reviews indicating that it is in a really nice place at the moment. In another restaurant, a first growth Bordeaux would easily command a four digit price, so £392 + 12.5% is a ‘relative bargain’. It was also surprisingly close to cost price (330/btl in bond) so it seemed er, sensible to take a punt. So to secure it (by the time you read this, the wine
Today I will recount the Legend of Young Turks & The Clove Club. The story of how a group of gifted palate thrillers had joined forces in their relative youth to dazzle the masses. There is already so much written about their food, their previous experiences and on-going adventures that admittedly I was expecting an over-hyped meal contrary to the chorus of praise. No restaurant can ever match feverish expectation anyway, right…? Well as it turns out, I couldn’t be more wrong. As you already know, this project was originally conceived as a long running pop-up at the upstairs of the Ten Bells pub, infamous for its connection to Jack the Ripper. It ended in April when James Lowe went off to other things (Thanks Michael, corrected now) but as it became too successful to pass into the history books, Isaac and co decided to reboot the restaurant with a long(er) term view. The current line-up consists of Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith (both of the Clove Club) running the floor, Giorgio Ravelli pulling the strings behind the stove, and Mchale masterminding a new ALC, forgoing the £39 set. I thought the restaurant may come with all the amateurish trappings of pop-ups but again I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was pleasantly surprised by how swish this operation really is. In my opinion, the decor rivals the most atmospheric
…in my dreams, they are delivered through sealed message tubes passed directly from the Arzak...
It’s not that I don’t like ‘high end’ Chinese food, it’s just that I...
All signs indicate that we are about to witness the second emergence of ramen in London; But this...
Happy new year! So how are we all finding 2013 so far? All good I hope, and I also hope you made...
Last year was definitely exciting with the number of new openings, pop-ups going permanent,...
It gives me great pleasure to write about my favourite Japanese restaurant in London, recently...
UPDATE – JAN 2013. *Ben Spalding & Nathan Holmes have left John Salt. Neil Rankin now...
UPDATE – JAN 2013. *Ben Spalding has left John Salt. Neil Rankin now runs the kitchen over...
You might have heard the name Yoshihiro Murata lately as he and Alan Yau have just opened Chrysan...
About 7 years ago, I lived directly above what is now Eric and Didier Garnier’s eponymous...
