A Week in London

1) St. John. Went here for lunch on the day we arrived. Had the marrow and parsley salad as a starter. Two slices of toast, several segments of hot roasted bones, a salad of parsley and shallots, and a small pile of gray sea salt. Okay, but nothing outstanding. The parsley flavor was so strong that it tended to overwhelm the meaty, buttery flavor of the marrow. And there really wasn't enough marrow to leave much of an impression. An interesting, quirky dish, but not something I (or K) would order again. Next was a white cabbage and cockles salad. Bland, bland, bland. Almost no flavor in any component of the dish. Totally forgettable. Next was an "Old Spot" pork pot roast with bean salad. The pork ended up being a slice that included the tenderloin, bacony cut, and then a thick layer of fat. Good pork taste, but very one-note (and definitely on the salty side). It was served in a bit of soupy stew broth that tasted the same (i.e., porky, salty). I think the pork had potential. But this was the wrong dish for it. The only interesting thing about it was the contrast in textures you got with the unusual cut. The beans, however, were excellent. They were mostly Lima, with shallots, bits of carrot, and maybe some potato. Definitely the best dish component we had there. For dessert, we got the Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese. The plate came out with a good sized slab of cheese and a puck-shaped pastry about 2" in diameter. The Eccles cake was a bready pastry with a light granulated sugar coating, filled with currants. That's it. No moisture. No sauce. No pastry cream. We both agreed that, for what the pastry chef was trying to do, he probably did a good job. But it didn't approach the American ideal for a dessert (i.e., sweet, sweet, sweet). Anyway, we were both pretty disappointed with the meal. Total tab for that ended up being almost 40 pounds (roughly $75).

2) New Tayyeb. This was a low level Indian restaurant near Whitechapel, recommended highly on e-Gullet. The place was slammed when we got there around 9 PM. We waited nearly a half hour for a table. The menu was a challenge, since there weren't any descriptions of dishes and most of them were unfamiliar to me. We ended up ordering veggie samosas, one chicken curry, one lamb curry, and kheer for dessert. The samosas were good, but thin (flat, rather than the lofty pyramid shape I'm used to). Really good chutneys--one cucumber and yogurt, one mango, and one hottern'hell chile. Both curries were excellent--not really as soupy or gravy-like as I get around here. They didn't impress at first bite. But once you started eating them, they really grew on you. Entrees included sides of a veggie curry with squash and a red bean curry. Both were very good. Good kheer, closer to a rice pudding than what I usually get under that name. Total price for the meal ended up being about 17 pounds (about $28 US)--unfortunately one of the better values of the trip.

3) Soho Spice. A good friend recommended this place, saying it was one of the best meals of his and his wife's life. K ordered chicken tikka masala. I ordered another lamb curry (something korma-ish). I didn't like either of them as much as what we'd had the night before, but they were still very good. K said it was the best chicken tikka masala she's ever had. We had a good gulab jamun for dessert. 30 pounds or so for the lunch.

4) Mela. This was proposed by several people as an alternative to the high-end nouveau Indian places I had enquired about. Reminded me of an Indian Cafe Azul [an erstwhile Mexican restaurant in Portland run by a Chez Panisse alumnus]--great ingredients, good technique, but pretty traditional dishes. We weren't really hungry, so we skipped the appetizer and went straight to entrees. I ordered a duck curry and K ordered some kind of veggie ball curry. Both were incredible--two of the best Indian dishes I've ever had and definite highlights of the trip. The duck pieces were crispy, with an excellent sauce (with spiciness and almost mustardy undertones) that clung to the pieces without making them soggy. And the curry with the veggie balls was "lick the bowl" good. We had a good mango kulfi for dessert. 25 pounds or so.

5) Street vendor near the Tate Modern Art Museum. This guy had a cart with a wok-like bowl in it. He had a sugar syrup heated in the wok and would stir these enormous peanuts in it until they were caramelized, then sell small bags of them--still hot from the wok--for one pound. Mmmm. Simple, but a great little snack. I saw a similar cart elsewhere in the city a couple days later and was tempted to buy another sack, even though I was on my way to a dinner reservation.

6) Cafe Italia (or something like that). K was mad that we were taking so much time traveling to restaurants and spending so much (by US standards) on food. So I said, "Fine, we'll go wherever you want to go from now on." When mealtime came, she was at a loss and picked this place because it was close to where we were at the time. She had canneloni and I had spaghetti Bolognese. Both were sub-Olive Garden [i.e., a mediocre US chain] in quality. 25 pounds, without appetizer or dessert. After that, she went back to letting me pick the restaurants.

7) Harrod's. I've never seen anything like Harrod's. The place is unbelievable--like a lovechild of Neiman Marcus and Las Vegas on steroids. It's enormous, gaudy, and cool as hell. They have "food galleries" that cover the better part of a city block on one floor. A candy, chocolates, and pastry section. A cheese and deli section. A seafood and meats section. It makes Central Market look like a low-rent 7-11. Cabrales had recommended their Oyster Bar for a lunch. So we ordered fish & chips there. K loved it, saying it was one of the best things she'd eaten on the trip. I thought the fries were really good. And the fish seemed to be done about as well as it could be, though it's just not my kind of dish. 16 pounds for one order (i.e., two fried filets and a small portion of fries). We went over to the pastry section and picked up a bread & butter pudding and a fig & brioche pudding. The former was pretty good, while the latter was just so-so.

Tamarind. The only Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in England. (Zaika used to have one till the original chef left.) They started us with papadum and a trio of chutneys. The chutneys were, as K put it, "Interesting here," tapping her head, "but not here," pointing to her tongue. Sweet and sour flavors in unsual combinations. I tended to agree with her. One of them (the fruitiest of the three) was okay, but the others barely worked at all. Our appetizer was some kind of concoction of fried potato patties, chickpeas, tamarind chutney, and yogurt. Interesting, mellow, and pretty good. For entrees, she got a chicken with tomato onion curry and I opted for two veggie dishes, sag aloo (spinach and potato curry) and a black lentil curry they touted as a house specialty. Disappointment across the board. All three dishes were just okay--really no better than we can get around here. Also, it seemed like they pureed and strained the chicken curry so there would be no texture to it; that might earn them a star, but it kind of detracts from the dish. For dessert, we ordered the most unusual sounding option they had--slow-cooked carrot fudge with vanilla ice cream. Very tasty. Imagine something between a carrot cake and carrot bread, removed from the oven while it's still underbaked, then extracting the warm, slightly mushy underbaked center portion. That's kind of what it was like. Served with a decent vanilla bean ice cream with the plate garnished with a carrot juice reduction. A groovy little dessert. But it wasn't enough to redeem the uneven quality. And at around 60 pounds, it was a very poor value.

9) Viceroy. This was an Indian place in Windsor (where we were visiting Windsor Castle) that came highly recommended in Lonely Planet. Ugh. High school cafeteria quality Indian. 20 pounds for two entrees. Total disappointment.

10) Gordon Ramsay RHR. Our one three-star meal. While it didn't knock my socks off, it was a very good meal and a reasonable value at the price point (80 pounds per person for the tasting menu). I'd say it fell short of Trotter's or French Laundry. But, overall, it's in the ballpark (i.e., 5 Mobil stars in the US). Quick sketch of courses (followed by a 1 to 10 ranking of the course, comparing it with the best of the best in the US):

a -- Kelleresque cones filled half with an avocado mousse, half with a masala mousse. 9.

b -- Two paper-thin slices of some kind of spicy meat dehydrated to complete crispiness with a layer of seasoned creme fraiche and cheese between them. 10. One of the best amuses I've ever had.

c -- Trio of salads, each served in a spoon. One was a nicoise, one was a tomato and basil gelee, one was rare beef with capers, shallots, and something else. 9.

d -- Foie gras terrine with layers of smoked goose, served with bite-sized salads of mushrooms and green beans, with concentric rings of olive oil and a red wine reduction. A superb foie gras presentation. 10.

e -- Scottish lobster and langoustine ravioli with tomato compote and other things I can't remember. A lobster lover would probably really dig this. And even though I'm not a lobster lover, I thought it was pretty darned good. 7.

f -- Skin-on seabass with veloute. I'm sure there was some kind of excellent side component to this course, but I can't remember what it was. All I remember is the seabass and sauce. Man, what a fish. Right up there with the best I've ever had. 10.

g -- Lamb three ways. Thin rare slices, layered with well seasoned potato slices. A shaped pile of shredded meat, like confit in richness. One other way, combined with spinach. All very tasty and competent, but not interesting at all. 8.

h -- Beef medallion with sauteed sweetbreads, mushrooms, and a way too dark, rich, intense sauce. By far the weakest dish of the night. K liked it more than I did, but she agreed it was the weakest of the bunch. The meat wasn't very tender and the flavors were just too clumsy. 6.

i -- Lavender infused creme brulee. Lighter than most creme brulees I've had--almost fluffy in texture. Very tasty, but not original in any way. 7.

j -- Trifle of warm apple compote, a cool spiced tapioca, and an intense granita. One of those dishes that emphasizes contrasts in temperature and texture. Very tasty, too. 8.

k -- Strawberry and rhubarb tartlet. Hard to describe (almost no pastry component) but excellent. 9.

l -- Mignardises: (i) Dark liquid caramel filled truffles. Very intense caramel flavor--like cajeta quemada. 9. (ii) Strawberry ice cream truffles. Truffle sized balls of an excellent strawberry ice cream enrobed in white chocolate. They were served just as the ice cream inside was starting to go melty. Simple, but perfect. 10. (iii) Some good but forgettable mini-muffins. 6.

(11) Goddard's Pie Shop (in Greenwich). K had a minced beef pie with mashed potatoes, half with gravy, half with parsley sauce. I had a Cornish pastie--a croissant-looking pastry filled with lamb, potatoes, carrots, etc. The pastry components to both items were very well done--light, flaky, not soggy. But the fillings were bland as can be--a blandness that salt alone could not rectify. The mashed potatoes tasted like they were made with water rather than milk, cream, or butter--totally flat tasting. A great idea, but really blah in the execution.

(12) Mela, again. We had to grab a quick dinner before a play started ("Measure for Measure" at Shakespeare's Globe Theater), and this was close by. We started with an appetizer sampler that included potato and chickpea balls with a spicy tamarind chutney, crispy tandoori chicken bits with a mango chutney, and a lamb kebab with a very spicy pickled meat and veggie chutney. (A lot of the menus had pickled meat items.) All were good, but the veggie balls were the best. We shared a mild chicken curry, a potato/spinach curry, and lentils. For dessert, I got gulab jamun with ice cream and she got some kind of bready pastry in a cardomom/milk-based sauce. Another good meal, though nothing was as good as the entrees in our prior meal there. That may be because we did the "pre-theater" fixed price meal, where they guarantee to get you out in time for your show. We probably should have ordered ala carte. They had a rabbit curry I really wanted to try.

12) St. John Bread & Wine. We came here for breakfast before heading to the airport. We had hoped they'd have some pastries, but they said they wouldn't really start on pastries till closer to lunch time. I had toast and honey (two slices for two and a half pounds). They know how to do toast there. But it's still just toast and honey. (Nothing remarkable about the honey.) K got pikelets and apricot jam. We didn't really know what that would involve. It ended up being two round patties--sort of a cross between a pancake and an English muffin--served with butter and an apricot jam. K thought they were pretty good, but I thought they were excellent. Maybe it's just because I'd never had anything quite like it before. Very interesting texture. We picked up a brownie to go. Good brownie with whole hazelnuts in it. The hazelnuts weren't toasted, though, so they ended up with that slightly chewy resistence, rather than the brittle crunch (and nuttier flavor) they get from toasting. A good brownie, but no better than one can make at home.

13) Generic Airport Cafe. We picked up a chicken tikka sandwich--white bread with spiced chicken and slices of cucumber. Yuck. Edible, but just barely. But what can you expect with airport food? Also, Lay's operates in England under the name Walker's. They have a line of gourmet potato chips in all kinds of offbeat flavors. I picked up a bag of "Roasted Lamb and Mint" potato chips to go along with the sandwich. Not bad, though there wasn't any noticeable lamb taste to the chips. I'd be interested in trying some of their other flavors. [BTW, Chips = Crisps.]

Cynthia wrote:If you can get to the Borough Market in Southwark, it's worth a visit.

Cynthia wrote:(And Greenwich is worth a visit because of the Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark, and the Royal Observatory, a historic edifice and museum of astronomy, and the place where the zero meridian was set (and where you can get your photo taken standing on the line).

globetrotter wrote:I'm not impressed by london indian.

Cynthia wrote:

globetrotter wrote:I'm not impressed by london indian.

Next time you're in London, check out Southall. It's not the food for the British, or even the British Indians. It's food for recently arrived Indians. Last trip, a friend and I, both Chicagoans, went with two London friends to Southall, and while my friend and I were loving everything, my London friends were almost in tears. I'd call it medium heat by Devon Ave. standards, but for my London friends, it was the hottest thing they'd ever eaten, and they actually had to order an additional dish, in order to have something to eat. Which, of course, is no guarantee you'll like it, but it's certainly different from the general run of London Indian food.

JeffB wrote:LON needs Mexican, though .)

JeffB wrote:Great report, though reading it I get the vague impression that food crawls in London, Chicago, NYC and LA (for example) can be remarkably consistent. Then again, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Jewish soul foods always make for a good trip.

(By the way, this is no knock -- I think this just proves that in huge cosmopolitan cities, the cream rises to the top. LON needs Mexican, though .)