10 Greek Street

Both I and my lunch companion walked straight past the less than obvious entrance to this tablecloth free and very simply decorated restaurant whose doorway sports the number 10 and little else in a fit of suitably soho-esque minimalism.

There are some witty touches; water is served in milk bottles, the menu is presented on small scrolls in addition to the gastropub style blackboards and a handwritten fine wine list begs to be explored if you have the time to enjoy it.  The wine list is thoughtful with nary a sauvignon blanc in sight and markups are modest for the area.  The lack of sparkle and pretension means that a lot of effort goes into the food however. Starters of fish soup and Duck hearts on toast disappeared in the blink of an eye whilst the knuckle of gammon was a masterpiece of homely, simple cooking that left you very well fed and very satisfied.  The depth of savoury flavour in all the dishes tells us that there are no shortcuts in the kitchen.

The style brings to mind the Gastroeconomia restaurants (Apat and the like) that target simplicity and excellent cooking at relatively reasonable prices, an approach that in the current climate means, no doubt, that opening a restaurant is a much more saleable proposition.

The menu usually has a change or two every few days and whilst bookings can be taken for lunch, dinner is walk in only which means a guaranteed wait from 6-8pm, though they are happy to take your number and call when a seat becomes available.

An excellent spot for a satisfying meal in an area packed with well priced competition.

Tamarind

High end curry houses always present a problem. The shadow of brick lane and every modestly priced indian takeaway lurks over a cuisine that has much to offer but doesn't scream premium. It also has economically priced competition in the capital such as Lahore and Tayyabs so to impress, the food has to go to a higher level.

Alfred Prassad has been at the helm of this, now long established traditional Indian restaurant in the heart of Mayfair which has retained its Michelin star for 11 years and is one of a quartet of starred Indian venues which include Amaya, Benares and Rasoi.
The cuisine is focused on traditional Moghul cuisine incorporating North West Indian Tandoori favourites and is served in a pleasantly lit basement room which includes some of the most subtle kitchen views I can remember as the pass can be glimpsed through semi disguised one way mirrors hung on the wall.

Tobias Gorn takes care of sommelier duties and must have one of the hardest tasks in the capital. I can only assume that every diner diverted from beer to wine must represent a victory.

The kicker here, as with a select number of restaurants in the area is the set lunch which we tucked into with relish (figuratively speaking that is). Skewered ground chicken kebabs were tender and flavoured with delicate warming spices, chicken tikka (I know, I know, but if you are really going to compare the high street to Berkeley square the dishes must be matched) was a gentle, creamy and simple sauce that accompanied the meat rather than overwhelming it whilst the side orders of baby potatoes in cumin and Turmeric, yellow lentils, braised basmati and Nan rounded off the meal and provided an assortment of starches, each perfectly prepared to round out the meal.

In conclusion then, a fine Indian meal in which the care in the kitchen shone through. To be repeated.

Bedford and Strand

At some point, either before, during or after middle age a proportion of us are invaded by the wine bug. This affliction requires us to spend large amounts of time and money pursuing vinous nirvana and it is at this point in life that the horror of pub wine lists becomes an issue and a mental map of decent wine bars becomes secondary in importance only to a good sense of which way to walk to get to the nearest tube station afterwards.
So, what does my London wine map consist of? Well, Terroirs, Gordons, Vinoteque, Shampers, Selfridges Wonder Bar, any Davy’s wine bar, Vagabonds, Nicolas Canary Wharf, and Waitrose Canary Wharf all make an apperance, and now, for its wine list far more than its food, Bedford and Strand off the strand.

A basement tiled room, a short list comfortingly grouped by price but more importantly for wine drinkers, all wines served by the glass, carafe or bottle and some interesting choices instead of the more typical variations. Light on French offerings, plenty of New World (Malbec Rose anyone?), a single, and perfectly decent Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, a solid and fairly priced claret for the traditionalists and even a British still wine.

Cheers! (and no, that one isn’t on my list)

Lobster and Burger

Here is a foodie quiz for you.  Name a restaurant that has no reservations, queues to sit down and a limited menu.  Tapas bars in Bilbao?  Seafood shacks on in West Mersea?

No, the ultimate in table turning tricks has now been applied to Mayfair in the form of Burger and Lobster, a (barely) converted pub, nos reservations, simple tables and chairs and an austerity aesthetic that no doubt sits well with local punters in these hardened times.  A barren single screen website with only address and a caricature, three mains courses, Lobster, Burger or Lobster Roll, each with Chips and all for the sum of £20 each.

The glamour and relatively low cost of a lobster and fries for two crisp tenners (I hesitate to use the word value in the context of crustaceans) is rather better value than the burger whose price outpaces that at  Hawksmoor, Automat, Goodmans (it is run by the owners of the last of these) and pretty much every other grand burger grillhouse.  The service is pleasant, whilst the lobster and burger are both generous and appropriately cooked.

This is not necessarily a cheap meal however once you bear in mind the amount of time you are likely to stay and the cost of drinks and extras. A pint of beer was a much more west end like £5.50  All that said, everyone loves a bargain, or at least the possibility of one.

As to advice, well arrive early or late, don't expect to linger too long as the atmosphere is a little frenetic, be aware the place will be full of large numbers of men, sat school dinner like with bibs round their necks and remember this is, at heart a diner, not a venue for dinner.

Goodmans

Goodmans is one of the newer wave of steak restaurants replete with the ever present Josper Grill which, paired with Hawksmoor and the daddy of them all, Gauchos, leads the charge for well grilled cow in London and forms part of a regularly visited trio on my part.

The urge for me is not strong however to sample every steak restaurant in town. It is, in my mind at least, a simple meal, dominated by the quality of ingredients and a careful hand at the grill that should remain straightfoward. Despite waiterly attempts to add "sides" at every opportunity I wave it all away and limit the choice to cut, size and then order it medium rare with chips and a bottle of wine.

I see that I nearly scrawled a post last April on this venue, but failed as there is little to say other than;

Good steak - check
Good chips (not fries!) - check
Reasonable wine list - check
A modicum of mustard - check

This is all that matters so and all of the above meet these requirements with ease but beware Broadgate Gauchos which differs a little on the atmosphere which is a little lively, aimed as it is no doubt at the younger city gent with its glass bar, Bond villianesque lift and background music so if this will may interfere with your your ability to concentrate on the matter at hand, choose the Picadilly branch and be prepared for one of the great gustatory pleasures.

Hix Oyster and Chop House

We visited Hix's sister restaurant, the Oyster and Fish House in the summer and so finally got around to visiting Mark Hix's original restaurant launched in 2008 after his departure from the Caprice Holdings group. This venue, a more meaty sibling is tucked away behind Farringdon station by Smithfields Meat Market which rather dictates the likely contents of the menu. On our visit, no Beef and Oyster pie was listed and no-one would join me in the chicken for two so signature dishes were not an option. Instead we plumped for Hix's home cured salmon (which is cured in his own garden smokery apparently), and battered Dublin Bay Oyster prawns both of which went down a treat, the former benfitting from a gentle smoking that was not too sweet and the latter, a crisp grease free batter and tongue tingling caper mayo.

Mains included a pork chop which fell into the "nicest I've ever eaten" category, whole John Dory and for full sustainability points, a fillet of Gurnard. We rounded off with Treacle tart (sublime and again light on the sugar), a Rich Chocolate Mousse and a Clafouti-esque version of Bakewell Pudding that will no doubt have me online buying a Hix cookbook within the week laden as it was with puff pastry, jam, whole almonds, an almond filling and almond ice cream so all the tastes of Bakewell allied with the guilt of puff pastry - superb. Extra marks for a full vegetarian menu as well.

All in all, a menu replete with Hix quirks (Credit Crunch Ice Cream, Hix Fix) and the trademark attention to ingredients backed by rock solid kitchen skills that bring out buckets of flavour without a hint of faff.

Casillero del Diablo Winemaker Dinner

Casillero del Diablo have been flexing their mass market muscles for some time, sponsoring a premier league football club, putting both Wayne Rooney and the general public through one of the cheesiest adverts since that "Ambassador spoiled us" and rolling out a marketing package the like of which few wine brands can match of which this dinner was the London based event in 2011.

The evening included commentary by Marcelo Papa, the dapper Chilean winemaker and Peter Richards, both a Master of Wine (for which read wine trade Jedi) and genuine authority on all things vineous and Chilean. The wine flowed generously all evening and the five course meal was well prepared and of good quality, though with no highlights to comment on for my part.

Casillero y Diablo is Concha y Toro's mid market brand subject to regular and aggressive discounting at all supermarkets and bearing this in mind, it is well made and an excellent example of the benefits that the much derided industrialisation of wine production has bought us.

It is also a fabulous advertisement for the value that Chile can extract from the viticultural process with it's benign climate, low cost labour that makes hand harvesting an option at lower price points, absence of vintage variation and a scale of production that allows well made drinkable everyday wine to be sold at a price that everyone can afford.

So neither a gourmet feast nor a highbrow tasting evening but I don't doubt that a majority of diners staggered off into the night better disposed towards the brand and more likely to buy it in the future.