It would be improper of me not to let you know about the new Sunday Roast at Bob Bob Ricard in London. Or to mention Bob Bob Ricard at all, it has been a while. Bob Bob Ricard is a most under rated restaurant. It doesn’t care about trends, the food is classic, and it is very well executed. It is refreshing and it is fun. Even though Bob Bob Ricard is in the heart of Soho, it feels like it could be a grand restaurant from 100 years ago or a very large carriage of a luxury train. When I have visitors in town, we often go.

It is famous for being the home of the famous Press for Champagne button. I always allow myself to press it at least once. When you do, your table number lights up above the bar, and a glass of house champagne is delivered to you. Another essential drink for every visit is the rhubarb G&T, bright pink, intensely flavoured and textured with egg white. The cocktails generally are very good.

The menu is part Russian, and I always order some Russian dishes. Baked Oysters Brezhnev were like a parmesan truffle soufflé with a delicate oyster underneath.

For starters, I had the beef tea soup, a crystal clear gorgeous broth with Siberian pelmeni, traditional beef and lamb dumplings. Others at the table had lobster, crab and shrimp pelmeni; seabass ceviche with avocado and truffled potato and mushroom vareniki (also traditional dumplings served with crispy onion and shimeji mushrooms).

Then the main event, the Sunday Roast arrived. Preceded by plates with perfect Yorkshire puddings, slow roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips roasted in beef dripping with honey and thyme, horseradish cream and truffle gravy, the USDA prime black angus was delivered perfectly pink. The beef was a roast rump cap, a cut that I love for the rich beautiful flavour that it has. We don’t see enough of it here, but is is hugely popular in Brazil, where it is called picanha. We also had bright sweet creamed corn and buttered greens. To drink, we had Crimson Pinot Noir from Ata Rangi in New Zealand. I would normally go for something fuller, but at lunchtime, something light seemed more in keeping, and I do love a good pinot noir, particularly from New Zealand.

I opted for a simple dessert of a trio of sorbets (lime, lemon and pink grapefruit) served with platinum vodka. Bob Bob Ricard specialise in vodka too, so I felt it important to have a tipple. The signature chocolate glory is a must for chocaholics, and there was one at my table. It is a chocolate jivara mousse, chocolate brownie, berries and passionfruit and orange jelly served as a perfect gold ball on which warm chocolate sauce is poured, which collapses it. Very dramatic, and tasty too.

I loved it. Bob Bob Ricard is a place you go because you love to eat, and you want to be a little decadent. I am planning to go back very soon. 

I attended a press preview of the Bob Bob Ricard Sunday Roast. The Sunday Roast is available at Sunday lunch time, a 16 oz portion of USDA prime black angus with all of the trimmings costs £29.50. Opinions, photos and words are all my own as always. Of course!

The Lockhart, London

January was not a hugely successful month for dining for me. Not that I was on some dry January mission, January, of all months, needs decadence and I will never do that. I ate out a lot and had some good meals, but rarely anything exceptional. Then I went to The Lockhart and had my faith restored.

The Lockhart opened last year but not well. So they got a new chef, changed the menu, closed and worked on it before opening again in January. I was meeting two food loving friends for dinner, and booked at the last minute after one friend objected to the original reservation elsewhere. Expectations were high. Very.

The Lockhart, London

We sat by the kitchen, a bright vivid space, and watched the chefs gently choreograph our meal. Brad McDonald leads the kitchen, a well respected American chef who now cooks southern food in London. And lucky us. We ordered pretty much everything between us (the menu is not overwhelming and is perfect for this). Continue reading

House of Ho, Soho

Bobby Chin is well know for his TV exploits, however, he also owns two very well regarded restaurants in Hanoi & Saigon. Now, a third in London has been added to the list in an impressive double fronted site on Old Compton St in Soho. The official opening day  was January the 6th, although they were operating in soft launch over Christmas. I popped in earlier this week.

First impressions are good. The space is vibrant and buzzy and the menu looks promising. We started with cocktails, I had a horny devil simply because I can’t resist chilli anywhere, even in my drinks. With lemongrass vodka, Vietnamese devil’s chilli (floating menacingly on the top of the cocktail) and fresh coconut, it was fresh and sharp with a lovely gentle heat. Continue reading

St John St is a busy street, and in a very good way. Home to St John’s restaurant (from Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver), and also wine bar & restaurant Vinoteca (across the road), with Bistro Bruno Loubet (which I have eaten at 3 times but neglected to blog, a huge oversight), and The Zetter Townhouse around the corner (one of my favourite spots for drinks and bar snacks). There are lots more and I could type all day, but my point is, that this isn’t an area that has been crying out for great new restaurants. This hasn’t stopped the Hawksmoor team from taking a stab at it, and given their pedigree (I am a fan of their Hawksmoor steakhouses and bar), I was curious as to what they planned to deliver and how. I knew that this wasn’t going to be another Hawksmoor, but I was expecting it to be quite meaty. And so it was. In a very good way. Continue reading

“Square pastrami makes me so angry! I have to avoid that counter in the supermarket every time”.

An unusual conversation to be having in a park in North London, perhaps. Over a portable gas burner and a pot containing a vacuum packed bag of meat. Stranger still was that it was with a someone that I had never met before and knew vaguely only through the internet. However, I had heard great things about Jacob Harrison’s Montreal style pastrami and I had to try it. Even if that meant that we had to meet somewhere in between (to be fair, he had offered to meet me at my place and invited me over to his, but I only had an hour to spare so this was the best that we could do at the time).

Montreal smoked meat (aka pastrami) is famous. Schwartz’s Deli is a first stop for most travellers to Montreal – myself included. When I last visited and requested a sandwich, the waiter looked at me and said, “have you tried the pastrami from elsewhere?” He continued “I did and now I know why we have such long queues here.” It was so innocent and confident, yes, but deservedly so. On both of my trips to Montreal, I have eaten there.

Jacob Harrison Pastrami

Corey, the man behind Jacob Harrison, was missing it deeply. His family had a deli when he was growing up and this was his only connection, but tired of and so depressed by what we here consider pastrami, he developed his own recipe with his own spice mix, using rare UK beef. I tasted it, and not only was it fabulous, it was at least on a par with Schwartz’s. Moist and rich with fat (fat is key to flavour), it made a perfect sandwich with mustard and sourdough bread. Montreallers and pastrami passionistas, please note, Jacob Harrison’s pastrami is smoked, so it isn’t exactly like Schwartz’s, but they are not trying to copy Schwartz’s here, it is just my point of reference. Continue reading

Morito, Exmouth Market, London

London is a very big city. That is not news but it frequently annoys me. It is the best and worst thing about London. I love that I can pop across to the other side of London and have a whole new and interesting experience. I also hate that I have to do that. I am a bit spoiled by it, I think we all are.

Morito Seafood Festival Menu

I used to live in the North East of London, so popping to Morito for tapas and a swift sherry was always easy. I have written about Morito before, if you are new and unaware of it, Morito is the smaller sibling of Moro, and is just next door. Now that I am down sarf, popping to Moro is a little trickier. It needs to be planned, and you know I hate to plan anything (as much of a key skill that is for any sociable Londoner). However, Morito’s annual seafood festival is a must, so I made sure I didn’t miss it.

Fino at Morito

Morito’s Seafood Festival runs only until October 6th. Lots of dishes that aren’t on the regular menu are available, and suggested sherry matches too. This year the menu isn’t set (as it was last year) so you can go a bit meaty too and I suggest that you do. The chicharrones de cádiz are unmissable (tender melting pork belly spiked with cumin and lemon) and the lamb chops are excellent too (I didn’t have the lamb chops this time but I have many others). The prices are very good, and you will want to order a lot. Do that too. I would suggest booking a table too (at lunchtime only – dinner is first come first served), as it is popular and always busy.

Gilda – pincho of anchovy, olive and guindilla chilli – spiky and rich. Perfect appetiser.

Ceviche – wild sea bass ceviche with seaweed, dill, sesame and cucumber – the cucumber acted as a delicate relish and the seaweed emphasises the taste of the sea and freshness of the fish

Pulpo a la Gallega – Octopus with Potatoes – slow cooked tender octopus with spiced potatoes

Montadito de cangrejo – toast with crab and oloroso sherry – the oloroso added a layer of richness

Puntillitas – deep fried baby squid – perfect tiny octopus – loved this

Tortilla – one of the best in London

Quail eggs with cumin and sea salt

Chicharrones de cádiz – pork belly, cumin & lemon – a must have – yielding fatty pork belly with a spiked cumin & lemon crust

Morito, 32 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QE

http://www.morito.co.uk/ 

Josh Ozersky

I may be in Lima in Peru (and really loving it), but a chunk of my food loving soul is very sad not to be in London as I will miss Meatopia. Meatopia is the meaty brainchild of Josh Ozersky, James Beard award winning food writer. We were always going to get along.

As Josh says in the recent brilliant Vice Munchies video  (which you must watch), “Every aspect of my life is utterly immersed and overflowing with the juice of literature and the love of food”. Starting out as an academic and historian, he was diverted to food by his passion and knowledge, and started with the well respected delicious tome Meet Me In Manhattan: A Carnivore’s Guide to New York City. He hasn’t stopped since, and we are all very happy about that.

A snippet of what you can expect (a tri-tip from Grillstock)

I met Josh when he was in London, and here follows a little about Josh, where you must hit at Meatopia, and some grill tips.

Tell me a little about your meat obsession?

I have, from a very early age, identified as a meat-eater. My tiny hands clutched
sausages and steaks from infancy onward, like Hercules strangling the steaks in
his crib. A long and unhappy life followed, which caused me to be a writer and a
glutton and I have brought these arts to bare on a great meat event — possibly the
greatest in history.

I know everything will be awesome, but give me a top 5 hit list for people to check out?

Tim Byres’ whole hog; Richard Turners ribeye cap with anchovy butter; Aaron
Franklin’s brisket, and of course Fergus Henderson’s meat magic…

Any grill tips for novices / amateurs?

Cook with wood or lump charcoal only, ever, with no exceptions; cover everything
with a LOT of kosher salt; and cook fast over wicked heat, finishing on the cold side
if necessary. That’s it. also, you can only end with good meat if you start with good meat.

Go to Meatopia if you love meat and a little fun. I would be there, if I could. And watch this.

Randy Garutti, CEO of Shake Shack, Danny Meyer, founder & CEO of the Union Hospitality Group (& therefore Shake Shack) and Daniel Young of Burger Monday and Young & Foodish

I got a sneak peak of the new Shake Shack in London yesterday evening, via Daniel Young of Young and Foodish and his terrific Burger Monday. I am not a burger obsessive by any means, but I appreciate good food (natch) and when a friend brought me to the Shake Shack in Madison Square Gardens, NYC, I didn’t have very high expectations. A burger is a burger, right? Right. Well, not really.

My Shake Shack burger in NYC Madison Square Gardens last year

I loved it. For the simplicity, the size of the burger, the flavour, moisture, sticky cheese slipping over the edge and the the lovely potato bun. It was a good solid burger, and I went back the next day. It became a favourite. Now, they have come to London,  the burgers are made from 100% Scottish Aberdeen Angus beef, the SmokeShack (my favourite) features British free-range Wiltshire cure smoked bacon and the concretes (frozen custard blended at high speed, a rich elegant ice cream) include Paul A Young chocolate and St John Bakery products.

I focussed on the burgers last night, there is only so much that even I can eat. My favourites were the SmokeShack with bacon, chopped cherry pepper and ShackSauce and the Shack Stack which was a combination of the ‘Shroom Burger and Cheeseburger in one. The ‘Shroom burger is a rare thing, a vegetarian burger with deep flavour and texture, but I will continue to have mine with a cheeseburger ;) Get some cheese fries on the side too, crinkle cut chips topped with a creamy cheddar cheese sauce.

We already have some great burgers in London, but this is a good addition to the scene. It opens tomorrow, the 5th of July, so check it out, and expect some long queues.

Some pics for now, and I will be back to try the rest of the menu.

Shake Shack, 24 Market Building, The Piazza, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8RD

‘Shroom Burger

Cheesy Fries

SmokeShack Burger

One of the very cheerful staff members with lots of Shack Stack Burgers

Red Velvet Concrete

To refresh your memories and to introduce new readers, Posh Lunch Club is all about finding the best fine lunches at bargain prices. So set menus, and all that jazz. Mainly in London but also anywhere that I might find myself. Which is a lot of places, at times. I have a long list to hit in London, and will be focussing on that for the next few months.

I love Posh Lunch Club because it makes London restaurants so accessible. I really believe that you don’t need to have a lot of money to eat well, either at home or out on the town. When I first moved to London and existed on a pittance, I took advantage of the amazing ingredients available to me and taught myself to cook more, as I couldn’t eat out that much. Now I can, but I still relish a bargainous and delicious discovery.

Posh Lunch Club isn’t a real club. I have had requests to join but sometimes there is only one member – just me on an indulgent solo lunch – more usually it involves one other, and sometimes, many more. The membership lasts for as long as lunch, and that is that. The real idea is for you to use this as a guide for your own posh lunches. I will show you the best and most delicious places to spend your hard earned cash.

Let us begin.

My first Posh Lunch Club of 2013 was at Pizarro. One of my favourite restaurants, they have started doing a brilliantly priced Menu del Dia (as is typical in Spain) for £20 for 3 courses or £17 for 2. I have a confession, even though I normally stick to the menu, when in Pizarro I can’t resist going off piste and bumping things up a bit. I adore the jamon there (with a glass of fino, natch) and the cod fritters are very hard to resist. So we started with those.

The cod fritters are crisp with a fabulously light & fluffy center. The jamon is nutty, rich and melts in the mouth. I can taste it now as I type. The jamon that is served at José (Jamón Ibérico Manuel Maldonado) is sold at £1000 per leg retail elsewhere, so it is a bargain, even at £20 a plate.

On to the starters. There are three choices, but I can’t look beyond chorizo, even if I have no idea what Trinxat is (Trinxat, chorizo was on the menu). It turns out to be a refined sibling of bubble and squeak with tiny diced chorizo, fried and crisp on top and on the side with some crisp greens. The cake itself was just holding together and when I touched it, it seemed to sigh and fall apart.

For my main course, I went for the pork chops with jersey royal and apple. The pork chop was very large and with a big coating of fat. The pork itself was delicious but the fat was divine. I left none behind. It lay on some apple puree, not over sweet and still perky. The jersey royals played a small supporting role with a herb dressing. My friend had mackerel plancha, which was super fresh as mackerel should be (but often isn’t).

And this is where we stopped. No more food, and I finished with a coffee. But were I stronger, more greedy (or less greedy at the start), I would have had the Santiago tart. Really, I would.

A perfect breath of new life for Posh Lunch Club and about time I reviewed Pizarro. A wonderful restaurant, all heart and great food, those two courses cost only £17. There is a great sherry & wine list too.

It gets very busy, but there is almost always a seat at the bar. I have spent many a Saturday there. Enjoy it.

Pizarro, 194 Bermondsey St, London Borough of Southwark, London SE1

I am still experimenting with video. Here is a little one of Pizarro. A little shaky, but not bad for a phone at all. Imagine you are on a train as you watch it ;) (I think a little tripod for it would be very useful, I will perfect it!).

With thanks to Carphone Warehouse, who supplied the Samsung S4 which I used to take all photos in this post, and the video. Not bad, is it?! 

I have a shortlist of must eat places that I visit every time I am back in town. Places that offer comfort, deliciousness and that make me feel right at home. Bowls of loveliness and pies of joy, spicy fabulous curries and fatty fabulous seekh kebabs. This is not a list of anything specific, like my favourite fine dining or cheap eats, but a list of the places that I think about when I travel and head straight for when I get back.

I always promise that I will share these, but I never do. (I don’t know why, I suspect it is because I find things like this a bit of a Sophie’s Choice). There are restaurants that I love that aren’t on here as they are more occasion type places for me (L’Anima, Racine & The Ledbury, for example). They are centred around Soho, and in South London where I live, but these are places that I travelled to before I lived here from the North and East and are destinations for me. I wouldn’t recommend them otherwise.

So, here you are, enjoy. I know you will love them as much as I do. I have eaten at each one many times. (Photos are random and are a mix of camera phones and random cameras – I will update with proper photos as I go).

Koya – the best udon in London, these are as good as any (and better than some) in Japan. Made fresh daily using the traditional 5 hour under-the-foot method, bonito is shaved fresh for the soup stock (which goes a little way to explaining the flavour and vibrancy). Everything is good here, and don’t ignore the specials. I recently had a divine udon with tempura hake, wild garlic and leek, and I just can’t stop thinking about. When ordering udon, be sure to order tanuki (crispy tempura bits) and onsen tamago (slow poached egg). Served cold may sound odd, but when cold they have terrific texture. I let the weather choose whether I go cold or hot. The drinks list has some lovely sakes, wine, beer and cider. I try to stick to sake when I go. When in Rome (or in London) etc.

Koya, 49 Frith St, London, Greater London W1D 4SG, United Kingdom, no reservations

José & Pizarro – I can’t mention one without the other, José and Pizarro are two restaurants owned by Spanish chef José (yes) Pizarro. José is a relaxed tapas and sherry bar on a street corner in Bermondsey, always full and with a brilliant atmosphere. All of the food is great but especially good are the tortilla, jamon, gazpacho and croquetas. With a glass of sherry, of course (the list is excellent). A 5 minute walk away sits the younger sibling, although it feels a little more mature. A touch more formal, although really not by very much, Pizarro serves a more structured menu and an excellent and great value Menu del Dia during the week.

José, 104 Bermondsey St, London SE1 3UB, United Kingdom, no reservations
Pizarro, 194 Bermondsey St, London Borough of Southwark, London SE1, United Kingdom

Prawns at Pizarro

Bone Daddies Ramen Bar – Bone Daddies is fierce. It is the type of ramen that grabs you by the chops and wrestles you into submission. Big flavours, lots of heat, and rich broths, this is the real deal and is really considered. The tantanmen was my favourite until I became too weak or it became too hot. Now I favour the super rich and silky tonkotsu, and the kimchi tonkotsu when it is on special. With punchy kimchi, corn, and some fine grated parmesan, it hits every spot, even some that I didn’t know I had. Soft serve ice cream is a must. The flavours change daily, I have had the green tea and I hear that the black sesame is very good. There is a great sake list and this is where I focus my attention, although the Fever Tree ginger beer is pretty good too.

Bone Daddies Ramen Bar, 31 Peter St, London, Greater London W1F 0AR, UK, no reservations

Bone Daddies Tonkotsu & Sake

Lima – my favourite Peruvian food in London and great cocktails too. The ceviche (sea bream) is the best in town, as is the pisco sour. Braised tender octopus with bubbles of bitter rich olive and suckling pig with lentils are divine, and the chocolate with blue potato crystals – trust me – is a must. I need to go back and familiarise myself with the rest of the cocktail list, I rarely stray from the sours.

Lima, 31 Rathbone Pl, London W1T 1JH, United Kingdom

Octopus with olive and quinoa at Lima

Abbeville Kitchen – local to me, but worth the journey, Abbeville Kitchen is a perfect local restaurant. Modern British, I love to go with friends and order some of the food to share, from Desperate Dan style pies (my favourite was venison and pickled walnut) to rib of beef, chips and bearnaise to share. Starters are lovely too, the charcuterie is particularly good. House cocktails make a perfect aperitif and the wine list is very fairly priced and accessible.

Abbeville Kitchen, 47 Abbeville Rd, London SW4 9JX, United Kingdom

Trinity – great food, great wine, accessible prices. Possibly the best priced tasting menu in town. Chef Adam Byatt and his team make many delicious things, but their taramasalata is the best I have ever tasted and their signature trotter dish is divine. Wine matching is excellent, and the prices aren’t intimidating. I brought a friend last year and he goes back now all the time with anyone that he can find that hasn’t been there yet.

Trinity, 4 The Polygon London SW4 0JG, United Kingdom

Pig trotter on sourdough with sauce gribiche, crackling and quail egg at Trinity

Lahore Karahi –  a small and way too bright Pakistani restaurant tucked away in a corner of Tooting, the Lahore Karahi is one of my favourite curry houses in London. I started obsessing about the lamb chop masala, four tandoor lamb chops in a thick, rich lamb masala sauce. I would always have these with the lamb seekh kebabs, and the chicken and fenugreek ones. But then I discovered the haleem. Which is a divine concoction of 3 types of lentils and lamb, smooth as silk and rich as velvet. It is only available at the weekends which is just as well. The prices are brilliant, with main courses circling £7 or less. BYO & no corkage, treat yourself to a visit.

Lahore Karahi, 1 Tooting High St, London SW17 0SN, United Kingdom

Haleem at Lahore Karahi

Jen Café – I go here for the dumplings and the bubble tea in hungry moments in Chinatown. The dumplings are very simple, Beijing dumplings with pork, steamed and sometimes, if I am in the mood, fried. Always with a dipping sauce fashioned from the condiments on the table: black vinegar, (often a little too much) chilli oil, and a little soy sauce for sweetness, salt and balance. Never more than £10 and always satisfying. Althhough the staff can be quite rude, and they are inconsistent. (Update October 2013 – I now prefer to go to Leongs Legend Continues around the corner for the Xiao Long Bao, which are some of the best in London, and a cup of tea).

Jen Cafe, 4-8 Newport Place London WC2H 7JP

Fried Beijing dumplings and watermelon pearl juice at Jen Cafe

Gelupo – gelato and granita, in cups, cones or sourdough donuts, there is very little not to love at Gelupo. Blood orange granita is a must, although the recipes are seasonal so be sure to explore. Look beyond the counter to the fridge for some chocolate covered ice cream, ice cream cakes and bon bons. At one point the even sold (terrific) charcuterie from sister restaurant Bocca di Lupo across the road.

Gelupo, 7 Archer St, London, Greater London W1D 7AU

Chilli Cool – I am adding this at the end and slightly tentatively as I used to love it here but haven’t been in a bit so including it here is slightly risky. I do often think of returning for the firey grouper and tofu hotpot, smothered in chillies and spiky sichuan pepper corns, a piece of fish or tofu rescued from the oils beneath is delicious. I was first brought here by a friend of a friend from Chengdu who loves it and did all of the ordering. I have been hooked to Sichuan food since. I last brought a friend who was so shocked by how hot it was – despite my pleas for him to drink aloe vera juice to soothe his palate – that he insisted we leave half way through. If you like hot food, you will love it. I do.

Chilli Cool, 15 Leigh St, London WC1H 9EW

Have you any favourites that you think should be on this list? Let me know in the comments :)

Coming soon: more favourite London places, incl for fine dining, posh lunch, cheap eats, coffee, wine, brunch etc.

Picture taken by Pål Hansen for the Observer Food Monthly when I won the OFM Best Blogger Award in 2011

I was extremely honoured to be asked to curate a food blogging masterclass at the HQ of The Guardian newspaper as part of their series of masterclasses. As curator I have asked the best food bloggers in the UK to join me in sharing our knowledge with you. It will be useful, informative and hands on. We are planning it right now, and I will be back soon to share some more details for you.

For now, here are some details on my fellow tutors. There will also be two influential keynote speakers, details on those soon too. The course will run on the 13th and 14th of July and therre are only 36 places. Classes will be taught in groups of 18 so it will be intimate and everyone will get lots of attention.

Book on Eventbrite via The Guardian website.

Niamh Shields – me! – social media, etiquette and food & travel blogging 

You know about me :)

Daniel Young – food criticism for bloggers

Daniel is the “Young” behind young&foodish, a London-based website and food events company. He is the creator of the BurgerMonday, PizzaTuesday, SpagWednesday, WichThursday, FryFriday and CoffeeSaturday series of pop-up dinners, working with such chefs as Giorgio Locatelli and Nigella Lawson. He was restaurant critic of The New York Daily News and has written about food for such publications as The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Bon Appetit Magazine and Gourmet Magazine.

Daniel is author of eight books, including The Paris Cafe Cookbook and Made in Marseille. In February 2013 youngandfoodish.com was named one of the 50 food websites and one of the 15 sites the foodies love by The Times. In May 2013 Young was named Online Food Writer of the Year at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards.

Signe Johansen – recipe writing

Signe is a food writer and cook who grew up in Norway and now lives in London. She trained at Leiths School of Food and Wine, and after graduating worked in some of the UK’s top restaurants. Signe has a Masters in the Anthropology of Food from SOAS, a degree in Social Anthropology from Cambridge and has written about Scandinavian food for Sainsbury’s magazine, Delicious magazine and the Financial Times as well as contributing recipes to all the major mainstream and trade publications in the UK.

Signe has recipe tested cookbooks such as Hawksmoor At Home, both the Fabulous Baker Brothers’ books, Le Pain Quotidien Cookbook and the Pitt Cue Cookbook. Saltyard Books published Signe’s books Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking…Scandilicious in 2011 and Scandilicious Baking in 2012. Signe’s blog Scandilicious specialises in modern Scandinavian cooking, baking and living and her supper club EatScandi was recently featured in the New Yorker.

Jeanne Horak-Druiff – food photography

Jeanne Horak-Druiff is a South African by birth and a Londoner by choice who has been writing her blog Cooksister since May 2004. CookSister! was named as one of the Times Online’s top 50 food blogs in the world and is also a four-time winner of Best South African Food Blog in the South African Blog Awards. Jeanne started Cooksister at a stage when she did not even own a digital camera, and is a self-taught food photographer who fully understands the challenges and limitations of shooting food in a makeshift home studio with a limited budget. She is passionate about teaching and has run a number of photography workshops both in the UK and South Africa.

Peter Langdon – web design and building your blog 

Peter works on the Guardian web team designing and building web pages and managing digital marketing for Guardian Masterclasses. He has also worked at Amazon and as a freelance web designer on a wide variety of projects. He regularly teaches blogging masterclasses and you can find his own blog here.

Sami Tamimi of Ottolenghi, cooks us lunch

Some of you are going to hate me now, but here goes.

Yesterday I went for lunch behind the scenes at Ottolenghi. The hub of all Ottolenghi activity, where recipes are developed and a lot of the restaurant items and most of the deli items are made.

Ottolenghi are proud of their sourcing, and this is evident from the food. Each bite has an intensity of flavour and freshness that isn’t delivered unless you take extreme care with your ingredients, and how they are stored. Secret places and people. Every good restaurant has these. They generally don’t share them with us.

Except Ottolenghi does now. In response to readers craving exotic ingredients from the books in order to recreate the food at home, Ottolenghi have now set up an online store, and they deliver all over the world. Ingredients, products, and wine too.

Exciting, eh? And really delicious. Date molasses, sumac, za’atar, rose petals, (proper) rose water, dukkah. Fragrant and delicious. I cook a lot with rose petals (see the rose petal butter in my book among others), dried and fresh, but the dried rose petals that we ate there, were fantastic in their fragrance. I was surprised. At once delighted that I could source them, and disappointed with the ones that I had been using before.

Yotam’s co-author and business partner, Sami, cooked us lunch. A gorgeous meal peppered with stories of Sami’s cooking with his grandmother, and stories making homemade mograbiah and pomegranate molasses in the Palestinian sun.

The food was divine, I will be digging out the recipes and recreating them at home for myself and for friends. Great wines too, an unusually complex and rich prosecco from Casa Coste Piane di Loris Follador, a spicy rich orange wine, Tenuta Grillo from Baccabianca, and a spicy soft fruity red wine, a Nerello Mascalese from Caruso & Minini.

Most of the recipes are from Ottolenghi’s books and Guardian column, and all ingredients are available online. So you can also recreate yourself at home.

Enjoy!

Sweet potato purée with date syrup and black sesame seeds

Labneh sprinkled with za’atar

Dukkah

Halibut wrapped in vine leaves, fresh from the oven

Halibut wrapped in vine leaves, grilled with dukkah and lemon and served with piccolo pepper, cherry tomato, caper, basil and chopped herb salsa

Roasted chicken with sumac, za’atar and fresh lemon

Muftoul & mograbiah salad with dried Iranian lime, celery, tomatoes & cucumber

Rose cupcakes

Black glutinous rice pudding, with orange blossom, pineapple, banana, rose and green pistachios. Toast with halva on the side (I was greedy!)

Those rose petals

Halva on toast – will be my new favourite breakfast although it will have to fight with the rice pudding

José Pizarro

At long last, José Pizarro, former head chef at Brindisa Group, has opened his sherry bar in Bermondsey. It’s as good as I hoped it would be, terrific food & wines are served at really decent prices in a lovely cosy room. Better than that, Josés warm personality is evident throughout, it’s really friendly and welcoming. Warm wood counters grace large windows, it’s predominantly standing room here, but that adds to the bustling vibe.

The wine list has been put together by Tim Atkin MW and Jo Ahearne MW, and features a terrific house cava by Babot at £6 a glass. I also really enjoyed a glass of Verdejo from (2010 Cuatro Rayas), a fresh and lively sauvignon blanc from Rueda at £6.50 a glass. There is of course the sherry which has its own comprehensive list. I have yet to explore this properly but will definitely be going back there to sample.

What of the food? There wasn’t a dud dish when I visited. My favourites were the divine croquetas, perfect tortilla, pisto with fried duck egg, albondigas iberico with spicy tomato sauce, gazpacho that tastes like it has come straight from Andalucia, and hake with allioli. Tapas prices range from £3.50 to £7. There are no reservations so just turn up.

José, 104 Bermondsey St, London, SE1 3UB

http://www.josepizarro.com/news/660

London is an interesting city. Waves of enthusiasm seem to infect leading to trends in food and otherwise. Trends drive me crazy, food is food after all, and if it’s good it’s good. So what if I want to eat sun dried tomatoes and it’s not 1997?! I like ’em. Sometimes they bring benefits though, and I am happy to succumb. One such trend is the interest in Spanish food and drink and the corresponding surge in quality tapas restaurants in London.

Centrally this has seen the arrival of Barrica, Fino (relaunched last year) and Pinchito Tapas. Spanish style (perhaps Irish style too!),we embarked on a crawl of these three, taking advantage of the Tio Pepe Tapas Trail. Tio Pepe fino, one of my favourite summer drinks, was available free with any tapa over £4.50. What fun!

We started at Barrica. My first time there, I was taken with the warmth of the traditional room with the sunny yellow walls. Lots of wood, a big counter, some tables and high stools. We opted for bar seats and chose Tortilla; Morcilla (Spanish black pudding); Clams, White Beans & Girolles and Galician Octopus. Some of my favourite dishes and Spanish staples (the girolle dish aside), they would be a good test of the kitchen.

The tortilla was eggy and runny in the centre and rich, exactly as it should be, tick. The morcilla was very good, a lovely spicey version and finely sliced like a cured sausage, I devoured it quickly. The Galician octopus was tender and delicate. So far so good. The Clams, White Beans & Girolles felt as though it was missing something, I would imagine this is a vegetarian version of clams, white beans and chorizo. It felt like it was missing a fruitiness with the earthiness of the girolles too dominant. Prices circled a very fair £4-6. We sipped on our Tio Pepe Finos and headed on to Fino. Boom boom!

Fino, an offering from the Hart brothers, owners of Barrafina and Quo Vadis is very smart.  The most expensive of the three we would visit, Fino is a basement room with low ceilings, it’s been very good on previous visits, but it had been some time so I was looking forward to checking in. We grabbed seats by the bar again – the best place to sit always, isn’t it? – and ordered another Spanish staple Pane con Tomate, a lovely fresh & fruity version, some more Morcilla (I can never resist!) – Marcilla Iberica, Fried Quails Eggs, Chorizo Chips (small chorizo sausages wrapped in wafer thin potato and fried), Braised Iberian Pig Cheeks, sensationally rich and tender, they were irresistable. Another glass of Tio Pepe Fino here, but we also indulged in an extra glass of Tio Pepe En Rama, the celebratory 175th anniversary vintage which sold out in hours, but is available at Fino (and also Pinchito) at £5.90 a glass. This was gorgeous and silky with great depth of flavour. We had to have another one when we visited Pinchito next! We are indulgent…

Before we left we watched a suckling pig (a a very tiny one – seriously not much bigger than a cat) being prepared in the kitchen. Despite concerns for the age of the tiny piglet, we watched with envy. That has got to be done soon.

Final stop was Pinchito. I have only been there for drinks before, and at that at the Shoreditch one. First impressions are of a trendy bar, which always worries me when it comes to the quality of food (am I an old crank or what?!), however, Pinchito really delivered, and I thought it was probably the closest to what you would get in Spain right now.

The staff are also immensely knowledgable, we were all very impressed with our waiter Guillaume, who was so enthusiastic and helpful and full of information. We bought him a glass of En Rama and asked him to join us, which he did, although only briefly before he diligently went back to work.

We had Pa amb tomaquet (bread and tomato) which was a terrific version of the dish. The tomato was fruity and had spice with some lovely vinegary back notes. Alioli (garlic dip with toasted bread) was simple and perfect. I was very impressed by now. We hadn’t had croquetas yet so we ordered Croquetas de cocido madrileño (mixed meat croquettes) which were rich and dense. Mixed meat is a nerve wracking description but this worked well, whatever it was.

We also had Chorizo a la sidra (chorizo with cider & apple sauce), again simple, rustic and high quality and a plate of very good manchego. More Tio Pepe fino (again free as part of the Tapas trail), an irresistible glass of En Rama and a cocktail – Sevilla Fizz made with Sherry & Cava (costing £6.50) and very, very good, as everything had been until this point.

We were ready to bounce out of there by now, and we did. It was a great evening, and a very good showcase of Spanish food in London with only one weakish dish. Barrica was relaxed and a lovely place to catch up with friends, Fino a smarter setting with more elegant food, but the standout for me was Pinchito. High quality, relaxed, friendly and innovative, that’s Spanish cuisine in a sentence for me, and we have it here now in London. I want to go back to try Albondigas (meat balls with green olive sauce) and Hanger steak with paprika alioli (and more cocktails of course). Watch this space, I will tell you all about it when I do.

The Tio Pepe Sherry trail runs from 12-18th of July. It’s brilliant fun and if possible, I’ll be indulging in another glass or two at Iberica and Moro before the week is out.

http://www.pinchito.co.uk/

http://www.finorestaurant.com/

http://www.barrica.co.uk/

I always have my eyes peeled and my nose finely tuned to the colours, shapes and scents in country hedgerows. A dangerous occupation when there’s lots of silage and manure about, but, worth it for the times that you get an onion-y whiff, and then glimpse beautiful white flowers that taste somewhere between a spring onion and wild garlic.

I love wild garlic and use it a lot when it’s in season. It’s incredibly pungent (usually), and is something that I cook, or at least blanche before using. Three cornered leek (sometimes called wild onion and officially called Allium triquetrum) is more delicate, and slender, like a feminine version, with slimmer, angular, less shouty leaves and petite flowers. Perfect in salads, the flowers also make a gorgeous garnish.

On a walk to the beach in Glandore last week, I turned a corner and hit the most intense onion smell and smiled, knowing that I would be greeted by beautiful white flowers, looking like swanlike snowdrops. They are also common in London, I did a cheeky midnight forage in someones abandoned front garden in Islington recently that was carpeted with these gorgeous elegant blooms.

What to do with them? So much. Perfect in salads or as garnishes, it is worth making a small effort and blitzing the green leaves with some oil and drizzling on potato soup, with some flowers scattered around it. It makes a great pesto, a little less abrasive than one made using ransoms. I find it hard to resist simply eating the flowers on the way home.

There has been a lull in the transmission of Posh Lunch Club – apologies. The lull was only a week, but a week is a long time in politics blogging. I have been busy moving house and it has been a difficult transition. My new place is better located, and lovely and bright, but it is much smaller, and as a result I have a ridiculous amount of excess stuff. This takes sorting and dispensing, so it was lovely to escape from the chaos and indulge in a Posh Lunch with Sig of Scandilicious once more.

We had chosen to go to Texture, an Icelandic restaurant near Marble Arch. Iceland you say? You’ve heard of that recently? Well, this is possibly the star in the Icelandic crown. Forget attention seeking Eyjafjallajokull, that infernal volcano spouting puffing ash clouds all over the northern horizon and ruining everyone’s holiday plans. Forget about the collapse of the economy. Londoners, when you think of Iceland, you need to think Texture and you need to go there.

Why? Well, it’s a Posh Lunch Club bargain at £22 for 3 courses. The menu is pure simplicity, and deceptive for the food is intricate, and oh-so pretty. Each dish is like a woodland scene, I expected to spy a mini gruffalo peep out from behind a frond of dill amid Sig’s main course. I wanted to scoop my parmesan snow into a lunchbox and keep it forever in my freezer at home, like a parmesan ice queen. It’s modern yet in tune with nature, using normal ingredients (for us: chicken, salmon, asparagus, prawns) in creative ways.

Agnar Sverrisson is the culinary brainchild behind the operation. Icelandic, he started his culinary career in Reykjavik and has built an impressive CV including a stint as the Head Chef at La Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons. There he met Xavier Rousset (Sommelier), and they left to setup Texture in 2007. They’ve just received their first Michelin star, and I really think this is one to watch.

We started with a plate of crispy bits – I am sure they have a better name! Crispy sheets of parmesan, potato, bread and cod skin with wasabi and lettuce emulsion and yoghurt and barley dip for dipping. The dip was fresh, and it was perfect, save the cod skin for me which was a little too fishy, although Sig loved that. This was followed by a gorgeous little amuse of pea and mint, what appeared to be soup, but was a combination of textures and flavours, some mousse with pea, mint & I think I detected some asparagus on top. The pea was almost frozen in parts, and the whole dish was packed with flavour, and had a purity to it with very clean and sharp flavours.

The menu offers two choices per course, we each chose one so that we could try everything. Honestly, nothing disappointed. My starter of New Season English Asparagus, Parmesan Snow, Hazelnuts, Olive Bread was stunning. The crisp steamed asparagus was carpeted with a gentle icy parmesan snow. The hazelnuts were a great complement, and the texture of the crispy bread was perfect with the melting snow.

Sig went for Greenland Prawns, Gazpacho, Avocado, Tapenade. This dish had a touch of drama with the bright red gazpacho poured over at the table. The prawns were deliciously sweet and plentiful and the dish, from my brief tasting, worked beautifully.

For mains I went for chicken – more precisely Corn Fed Free Range Chicken Breast & Leg, Barley, Chicken Jus. Chicken is normally absent on a Michelin starred menu and I was curious. Sig went for the Organic Scottish Salmon, Sorrel, New Potatoes, Cucumber. I was pleased when the waitress advised that they don’t cook the salmon through, as this is how I love to eat it (even if it’s not my dish!).

The dishes were breathtakingly pretty and packed with flavour. Mine had white breast meat and dark leg meat, with nuggets of barley and tiny dark brown mushrooms throughout. It was rich but not heavy, with two delicious spears of sprouting broccoli and carrots. I knew that not only was this delicious, but it was doing me good. Sig’s salmon was tender and flaked beautifully, she was very happy with her main course.

Desserts: I chose Mango & Pineapple Soup, Lemongrass, Basil, Olive Oil. The soup was poured at the table, a nice touch, and was fragrant and fruity and a fitting end to the meal. Sig couldn’t resist the Valrhona White Chocolate Mousse, Ice Cream, Dill Cucumber, mainly to see what they would do with the dill and cucumber. Again, she really enjoyed it, and we both agreed that we would love to go again, and as soon as possible. We finished with coffees and delicious petits fours, a pretty and delicious little macaron and truffles. Just enough to satiate and not enough to feel guilty.

Overall the food showed a real lightness of touch, both in the artfulness of the dishes and a purity and sharpness of flavour. At the end of the meal, we both agreed that we were satiated but perfectly so, perhaps because Sverrisson doesn’t use cream or butter in his savoury food, and you can really feel the difference. Not that I am knocking cream or butter, but it is nice to have somewhere that goes without and produces something this wonderful.

Much has been said of the wine, of the wide variety and the keen pricing. We didn’t explore this very thoroughly as it was just lunch after all. We wanted something light, with a bit of life, that wouldn’t knock us out and that would complement the food. We requested a suggestion for under £30. A Spanish wine from Rueda was proposed at £29 (Verdejo, José Pariente, Bodegas dos Victoria, 2008), and it fitted the bill perfectly, not unlike a Sauvignon but lacking those limey/gooseberry flavours, it matched the savoury dishes nicely.

All of this wonderful lunch came to £45 each including service. If that’s not a bargain for this gorgeous michelin starred lunch, tell me what is.

Bompass & Parr have struck gold again. Not content with jellymongering and providing fantastic jellies for restaurants and funerals (true!), creating giant cocktails that you can row across and other magical and surreal food experiences, they have moved into the world of waffles and have established the Parliamentary Waffle House.

The video says it all realy. So much fun. Please ignore and forgive the very shaky start! I was laughing very hard.

Bompass & Parr

It launched last night with a screening of the live televised debate followed by a Waffle Eating Competition (in the video above)  and was tremendous fun. The menu lists three types of waffles, one associated with each party, and three types of beer plus tongue-in-cheek Prescott Punch made with Courvoisier. I had a Labour waffle with raspberries and vanilla ice cream. I just couldn’t bring myself to order Conservative, even if it’s only a waffle. The waffles were perfectly delicious and the porter light with a tingle. I loved it so much, I am going back and have booked a couple of tickets for election night.

So, if you’re in London, go! It runs right up to the election and entry is only £5. Further details are available on their website: http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/. The waffles are about £3.50 and the drinks are reasonably priced. A bit of a bargain I think, it really is enormous fun.

(More photos on flickr.)

Friends were visiting from Ireland recently and staying in Knightsbridge. As always happens these days, recommendations were requested, and I had one must visit for them in the area – Racine. I couldn’t get through to them, and when I finally did they announced that they had already happened upon it and loved it. High praise from two Francophiles indeed. I was delighted that they had had a chance to try it, I feel now that everyone should.

Racine is a classic French restaurant that serves very elegant, well executed food. Henry Harris is at the helm, with impeccable credentials having trained at Hilaire with Simon Hopkinson. I’ve eaten there a few times now and have never been disappointed. Each dish delivers what you expect and more. It’s classic French food, rich but not heavy with excellent sourcing of ingredients that are cooked in perfect harmony.

I went here for Posh Lunch Club but for the first time fell off of the horse. Posh Lunch Club is about fine dining at bargain prices, only from the set menu, no matter how enticing the main menu is. I blame my dining companion Derek, he went off piste, and then I had to. It’s all his fault you see. I have decided to include it in Posh Lunch Club anyway, if only because I am going there for regular posh lunches from now on, and they are a steal at £17.50 for 3 courses. Also, despite matching wines to each course and going off piste, it came in at the same price as The Ledbury set lunch (£50), and I enjoyed it just as much.

So, what did we have? We started with the stunning bone marrow, spring garlic and bacon toast pictured at the top of this post. It was gentle, eloquent, and just the right side of intense. The garlic distracted from the bone marrows fervor and gave it a lovely aromatic and slightly nutty quality.

Mains were, for me, and from the set menu, confit pork belly with sauce diable. Derek had confit de canard aux lentilles. I wanted each as much as the other. My pork belly was perfect. The flesh was tender and packed with flavour, the skin was crispy but not teeth shatteringly so, it had a lovely crunch. The sauce diable was creamy but with a beautiful acidity, which was perfect with the fatty pork. The confit de canard was the best I’ve had, crispy, succulent, more-ish and the lentils were a perfect savoury accompaniment.

I went off piste for the dessert, for I have to have the rhubarb as you know. We’re almost out of season and I am in a near panic. Poached Yorkshire rhubarb, mandarin sorbet, grand Marnier and orange curd was a beautiful tribute to my favourite fruit, the rhubarb meshed with the ice cream, bright pink and meltingly tender. I see it’s still on the menu now. Derek had the cheese board which was generous and well selected, and had the most delicious walnuts, from memory they were gently spiced and candied.

The menu changes daily and offers great variety – it is updated on their website and I can’t resist peeking frequently and planning future outings there. This was one of my favourite posh lunch clubs by far, and it’s placed high in my affections for dinner too. A classic restaurant, driven by passion, knowledge and fierce attention to detail. If you haven’t been yet, I highly recommend you go.

Racine Restaurant

239 Brompton Road
London SW3 2EP
020 7584 4477

Another day, another Posh Lunch Club. This, my friends, is why none of my clothes fit me right now. I wish I was exaggerating! How can I go about continuing my lifestyle as savoury cookie monster, without putting on weight, or going to the gym? No purging either please. There has got to be an answer. Answers in a comment.

This lunch date was at Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, one of the Galvin brothers numerous outposts in London. I ate at sister restaurant Galvin La Chapelle last year and really enjoyed the well executed and elegant French food. I was very much looking forward to (belatedly) trying the Bistrot. It has been recommended to me by many people for years.

I was meeting fellow blogger and good friend, Sig of Scandilicious for lunch. I arrived first, and was immediately taken by the authentic Parisian buzz, high ceilings, low lit and low lamps, mirrors lining the walls, and lots of diners chattering surrounded by hues of brown and cream. It was a very elegant space with a charming atmosphere. I was glad Sig had suggested it, and was asking myself why I hadn’t been before.

I sat down and absorbed it all, perusing the set lunch menu, which is an absolute bargain at £15.50, running 7 days a week, including Sunday. This, in my Posh Lunch Club experience is fairly unusual. The set menu is also available in the evenings from 6-7pm.

There are two options for each course, which is normal for this kind of deal, and absolutely fine for me. It may be a bit trickier for vegetarians, impossible for those that don’t eat fish, but it is a French restaurant, and they don’t do vegetarian well. I am tempted to say Why Should They? Not because I dislike vegetarians, or vegetarian options, I often order them myself. Done well, vegetarian food can be fantastic. French food, however, is steeped in a history of rich meaty stocks and marrow, and I don’t think they should change that to suit a minority.

Sig and I chose a nice carafe of white wine, we asked the sommelier for something that would broadly suit our choices and it was a lovely one, which sadly, I can’t remember. It’s in a notebook somewhere, no doubt under a box, and in another box by now.

For starter I had the Velouté of Pumpkin & Parmesan, which was a really perfect soup. Rich and savoury, with the fruitiness of the pumpkin playing with the umami rich parmesan, I was thinking about it for a few days. Sig went for the Mackerel Escabeche, which was perfectly nice, but nothing could extract me psychologically from my soup, sorry velouté, so I took a hurried bite and retreated swiftly to my bowl of liquid pleasure.

We went for the same main course, Roast Pavé of Icelandic Cod, Pistou Vegetables. The cod was very nice, well cooked, nice crispy skin, but the pistou vegetables were a little underwhelming. Not bad for the price overall but a little lacking in ooomph. Grilled Calves Liver, White Polenta and Smoked Bacon was also on offer.

For dessert, how could I resist the rhubarb? We’re almost out of the pretty-in-pink forced rhubarb season, and that sends me into a blind culinary panic. It came in the form of Buttermilk Panacaotta, Poached Rhubarb. I enjoyed the slight tang of the wobbly panacotta, but found the rhubarb a bit tough, which is a shame. Perhaps they undercooked them to retain a firm shape for presentation, but it took from the dessert. Brie de Meaux with Walnut and Raising Loaf was the other option. Once I saw the R word, I was blind to it though.

So, overall, I really enjoyed it, after all, a meal is the sum of its parts, not just about the food, while it is very important. While the service was quite formal, it really fitted with the room and, dare I say it, it felt truly French. I really felt removed from my everyday existence here, I felt like I was in Paris. Sometimes, that’s all you need. The food was good overall, the wine a great match and a good sipper, and Sig was excellent company. What a bargain it was too. I heartily recommend it, and will be there again myself soon.

Galvin Bistrot de Luxe
66 Baker Street,
London, W1U 7DJ
United Kingdom

T: +44 (0) 20 7935 4007
http://www.galvinrestaurants.com

I have several bad habits, who doesn’t? One is not writing about some of my favourite places. It occured to me recently, and I wondered why. I suspect that it’s part not wanting to taint a lovely dining/wine-ing experience by dissecting it for a review, and part confident that I will be there again soon and I can review it then. A little greedy bit of me may not want to share, I like this part less than you do. So, I’ve decided to write a list of these places, and start ticking them off.

The first one that I will review is Terroirs in Charing Cross, for no reason other than that I was meeting a visiting friend and wine blogger (Vaguely Vinous) there, and I love it. It had the makings of a perfect afternoon.

Terroirs is a natural wine bar and restaurant in Charing Cross, French in character offering a vast selection of natural/biodynamic wines, and a great food selection. It’s bright with lots of light, and is always busy.

It’s always so lovely to find a wine bar that cares as much about the food as the wine, Vinoteca is one (review soon!) and Terroirs another. I trek there a lot, with friends or sometimes solo. I like to perch at the bar with a small plate, glass of wine and a good book, and pass a couple of indulgent hours. The food menu has a variety of snacks, small bites, plats du jour and cheese. The wine list is enormous and comprehensive and I have had the pleasure of discovering some new favourite wines there.

In the spirit of Posh Lunch Club, I had to indulge in the irresistible lunch special, which today was Chickpeas, Chorizo & Clams with a glass of Red Cuvée des Drilles, Gauillac or a glass of White Chateau Clement-Termes, Gauillac for £10. £10?! That is tremendous value. I opted for the red, which was light and very easy, a good lunch choice, and a nice match for the food.

The Chickpeas, Chorizo and Clams were lovely, served with some good aioli, there was lots of clams, with good chickpeas, no ropey tinned rubbish here. These chickpeas had a lovely nutty bite, which, in my experience you only get from homecooking. There was a fine dice of chorizo, so that each mouthful had a combination of the different flavours and textures and a gentle heat. Some bread mopped up the sauce at the end with large, guilty dollops of aioli. It was a very good dish.

Dining companions had the steak tartare, at a very reasonable £7, and really enjoyed it with some robust red wine. A plate of cheese graced the table, and while I didn’t indulge, others were very happy.

We finished with a lovely bottle of red from Bergerac, Le Combal Cahors 2006. Initially quite farmyardy, which natural wines sometimes are, it opened up quickly to reveal some fruity flavours that I really enjoyed. It was a treat at £34, but was worth the spend.

I enjoyed it so much, I almost went back for dinner. However, that would have been silly, and silly I can be, but I curtailed myself tonight. I have enjoyed several dinners there before and can recommend based on these, particularly the bavette served at the restaurant downstairs.

So, there you have it, a bargain fine lunch, in a lovely wine bar. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend you check it out, as it’s marvellous. A real London gem for me.

Terroirs Wine Bar & Restaurant
www.terroirswinebar.com
5 William IV Street
London WC2
020 7036 0660