Salt Yard

Salt Yard

54 Goodge St,

London

W1T 4NA

+44 20 7637 0657

Salt Yard is part of a chain - though you wouldn't think it. It is in the heart of Fitzrovia near Goodge Street Tube station and sits a 100 yards or so off Tottenham Court Road.

The area is awash with bars, cafes and restaurants and I admit had I gone down Goodge Street uninformed there isn't much that would make you pick Salt Yard out of the line-up, except that the view from the path is intriguing.

Before Salt Yard we popped into the London Cocktail Club across the road for a quick drink. Fascinating decor, friendly service and lethally strong cocktails - good start to the evening. It's a proper hideaway - well impressed with the atmosphere & decor (such as it is). We sat in a booth kitted out with an old fashioned telephone and copious graffiti and drank cocktails with gin, fig and absinthe in them.

London Cocktail Club: Exhibit I

London Cocktail Club: Exhibit II

SALT YARD!

LM: One of the first things I noticed when we went into Salt Yard was the front of house service; a couple arrived just ahead of us and were shown to their table but immediately another member of staff came over to seat us. It was a good start and the service just got better.

The menu is divided into 'Charcuterie and Bar snacks' and then for the tapas, 'meat' 'fish' and 'vegetables'. I tend to steer away from tapas because from experience I end up spending an evening eating tortilla and patatas bravas; no such risk here. Our waiter was happy to advise on options, and as soon as he twigged I was a veggie offered the special without meat.

We started with country bread, warm and fluffy with a buttery finish, and aoili. My love of good bread is no secret to anyone who knows me; this was right up there with my favourites (second only to the bread board at Viajante). I could have eaten a whole meal of this stuff. Nocellara de Belice olives were juicy and bordering on buttery - divine.

SN: it was a nice change to see a choice of breads too. It may be a bit of a digression but why don't we eat bread and aoili more? It seems to me an ideal snack and we're rarely offered it in restaurants as a starter - surely it's not because we still juvenile worries about the smell of garlic? GOOD aioli is divine and with pasta its a meal in itself. As for the olives they were divine too - with no indication of the CoO its impossible to say under which sun they were ripened but I'd like to think it was their native Sicily. But the restaurant had us at hello - important because of the disasters at Moti Mahal but also because thereafter choices become a confident exploration of a wondrous garden, not a journey through a minefield. To accompany it we had a glass of Oloroso Seco, Don Nuno, Lustau - nutty enough to go with this basic fare. We were set fair.

As I was saying - the restaurant sets the mood for a guided exploration (it's not unknow territory for the most part but it encourages curiosity. So despite a host of good well known wines from Spain and elsewhere I went for a wine I didn't know but though it might suit our various preferences. Fagus, Coto de Hayas, Aragonesas (Garnacha, Aragon 2009) - mispelled on the wine list - turned out to be a thing of fortitude and some beauty - a huge fruity bouquet which sets up a very mellow and nothing like as powerful in taste. For me it was the kind of robust wine that tapas needs - sweet enough to compliment the food but not so strong as to overpower it. I think generally restaurants find good wines nowadays seldom have I had a shack. But this one was interesting and new and a delight - I might buy a bottle or two for rainy summer days.


Let the tapas begin!

LM: My first dish was a deep fried courgette flower with goats cheese and honey. The photo really doesn't do it justice; the courgette was firm and fresh on the inside, the batter light and crispy. I could have eaten it several times over. Our waiter was fantastic at recommending dishes; as soon as he realised I was vegetarian he also offered to adapt one of the specials of the day without meat but I was too smitten with the other menu options.

Next up for the veggie, a salad of beetroot, onions, hazelnuts and goats curd. Simple ingredients but well cooked; the onion and beetroot were tender but still had bite, and there was the perfect amount of curd to balance out the sharpness.






SN: I think it's worth a close up of this salad - the colours and textures engage the eye before the tongue and the taste. The taste matched the looks.

LM: Somehow we forgot (SN: I forgot) to photograph the patatas bravas which is a shame; they bore no resemblance to the tired chunks of potato in radioactive tomato sauce seen in most chains. Beautifully spiced and served with aoili and bravas sauce on the side we munched our way through two large portions.

SN: My choices were Slow Cooked Pork Cheeks with Prunes, Oloroso Sherry and Celeriac Purée and Slow Cooked Octopus, Ratte Potatoes, Lemon, Chilli and Capers - it was a night for slow cooked everything....

The Pork was a rich slow cooked small fist of meat floating on a cloud of the most delicate puree, the texture of shaving foam (OK, that analogy may not be of not a great help) but not so light that the meat is either overwhelmed taste-wise nor sunk under the laws of gravity.  When pork is so rich the edge of an Oloroso is to be welcomed and I think the prunes take the direction a tad sweeter too.  But the soft buttery flavour and consistency of the celeriac brings us back to the savoury - a handsome journey of four tastes each in it's place.

I should also say - the dishes are Salt yard are not small - but I guess the hearty eater will need 3 or 4 but they are good value

My second dish was different again.




The octopus showed no sign of rubberiness or indeed having lost any taste as a result of its long preparation.  The potato was gorgeous and despite herbs and spices and buttery sauces - the whole thing wasn't too hard to digest.  A refined dish against the pork cheek and the deeply satisfying cephalopdian bites were like nuggets on the plate.

A first!

SN: For the first time in our long relationship Louise decided that dessert was going to be the centre of her dining and so we shared the pudding Cold Chocolate Fondant with Turron Caramel and Crème Fraiche Ice Cream.  It would have struggled to justify it but I'm so glad I joined in for two reasons.  The Fondent ice cream wasn't too sweet and the fondant was firm enough to ……… no, its no good.  The pudding was lovely but the Pedro Ximenez was just divine and I'm sure contained enough calories to be a meal in its self.  It was like drinking a tot of Evian that had been lightly flavoured with the juice of a kilo of raisins and a quart of vodka…but that's way too crude to describe this huge wine.  Maybe overly sweet for many, but boy what a corker Pedro Ximenez, Fernando de Castilla.  I had too.  After which the coffee was well met. Maybe Lou remembers the dessert…..

LM: Dessert was a wonderful cold chocolate fondant with turron caramel and creme fraiche ice-cream. The dictionary definition of indulgent, the fondant oozed out and mixed with the caramel…within around thirty seconds of the photo being taken the plate was empty. Creme fraiche ice-cream was a great idea as well; subtle but with enough body to cut through the sweet chocolate and caramel.

LM: It's worth mentioning that the amazing service and food here wasn't a one off; more recently I went to sister restaurant Opera Tavern in Covent Garden, where the veggie options were different but the service, cooking and presentation were equally wonderful; clearly a team who knows what they're doing. 

SN: In summary this was the kind of tapas to which I could get accustomed.  Varied, tasty, not to greasy, not too heavy and full of light and sweet delights from the olives to the creme fraiche ice cream.  More notable and enjoyable and atypical was the quality of the service - helpful, alert and very personable.  Our waiter was a delight and worth so much in a Soho eatery especially after I'd endured Moti Mahal and Cinnamon Soho's rubbish service recently.  Its worth an adventure at around £50 each - explore the sherry and wine, explore the veggie tapas and the delightful side lights to these filling and satisfying dishes.

Moti Mahal, Soho

It bears repeating that we do a certain amount of research to ensure we are going to good places and will get a good story to tell you as 1) everyone likes to be enthused and 2) it supports an excellence agenda we believe in.  It might read that these blogs are a celebration of our impeccable taste - that's not our intention.  As you see below not everything we touch turns to gold….

SN: Moti Mahal is on the edges of Soho just off Kingsway in a place where the streets are broad and the buildings portentous.  It occupies two floors and the decor is restrained with flowers in plentiful supply and neat white tablecloths on all the tables.  Downstairs there's semicircular booths against the walls that are plush and well cushioned and low backed chairs around the rest of the table that could probably seat 6 at a push….etcetera

We arrived 20 minutes early - our coats were taken by the helpful receptionist and I asked if we could sit at the bar until our table was ready, at which point we were taken downstairs…and shown straight to a table, a table set for three, with settings too far apart for us to sit closely enough to talk.  The drill is that Lou usually makes from the plush upholstery and I joined her on this occassion - the waiters made no attempt to move the place settings. And so began an evening of delays, misunderstandings, delays, confusion, delays and dismay.  At the end of the meal, even the card machine wouldn't work either.  I don't intend to dwell on every incident but this was the worst service we've encountered in our years of dining together. And I didn't pay the service charge so I'd say we're quits.

LM: After too long a wait (near on twenty minutes), we recieved our cocktails which were delicious when they finally appeared.

Accompanying this was a plate of DIY salad with one knife and a selection of spices. In fairness it's an interesting gimmick and turns out that radish in garam masala dressing is delicious, but a bit more of a deft touch in presentation would have been welcome; it's somewhat unexpected to be faced with an entire onion as a starter. SN: or for that matter a green chilli.  That said I like this idea - it is at least pious grazing. My cocktail was a thyme vodka mojito - splendid.

LM: It's a real shame about the poor service because for me the food was very good across the board. The menu is divided into sections: 'Begin your Journey', 'Tandoori', 'The Main Stop' with prices rising accordingly. Maybe we should have clarified but my assumption was that a starter would come first, then tandoori, then the main course.

As it happened, Wagamama style, dishes came at random times and without any clear idea of when they were next going to turn up. Fine if you are expecting that but I hovered anxiously over my tandoori paneer wondering whether to dig in or wait. In the end greed (SN: hunger surely)] won out and I dug in; the paneer was soft, salty and buttery, with a nice smoke from the tandoori spices and not too much heat. I'm not sure I could taste the fennel but it was a beautiful plate of food and very generous in terms of portion size.

Starters arrived before we were even halfway through our tandoori course leading to more confusion; I had sweet potato cake with charoli nut, cumin and ginger with a gooseberry chutney which had lovely flavours, particularly the gooseberry chutney which I'd never have thought to match with sweet potato, but suffered for being a little oily. Still, the sweet potato had bite to it and a nice crispy coating.

It's worth noting at this point that the wine we'd ordered with our starter/tandoori still hadn't turned up! We flagged down a waiter who nodded, smiled and then went and stood behind the bar having clearly not heard or understood us. 

SN: My dish from the tandoor was lamb chops and very tasty they were too.  I'd hoped they wouldn't be bland and over-cooked and they were just how I like them, tasty, pink in the middle with a modicum of fat to add to a dazzling but not too fiery taste/texture thing. The presentation could have been improved though and I am not picky about how food looks. The accompanying avocado chutney should have made a little more impact than it did - slightly aggressive when it could have been cooler.

After a while, most things in this special downstairs time zone seem to take a while, the starter arrived - a simple fish dish.  A palm leaf parcel of Sea Bass fillet covered in rich fragrant crab meat.  Its a heady combination - but there was unity in the strong spiced crab and gentle succulent mullet - would have gone rather nicely with the salad had we not eating it all (in the wait). 

 


LM: My main was the Gucchi Mutter; fresh morels and garden peas in a yoghurt and saffron sauce. Very tasty, with fresh peas (that shouldn't need to be commented on, but sadly does - I've had stale, from-frozen peas far too many times since moving here) and wonderful spicing in the sauce. Again, very generous portion size. We ordered raita and rice as sides, all of which arrived together which was a pleasant surprise.

SN: The raita was delightful rich and still refreshing, it was creamy and cucumbery (is that a word Lou?) without those limp chunks one often encounters.  A wonderful touch.  My Goat curry - now off the menu, like the Mullet and Crab - was a fantastic reminder of the rich deep flavours that are hot but not all about the hot.  The meat was tender and tasty and all I needed was the rice to match the rich and rewarding combination.

Fortunately a man came with a small teapot to water the towels before we used them - they expanded in no special hurry.

Uniquely we both decided against dessert.

Our wine on this evening to forget was a very pleasent Rioja.

 

AD12@T42

This was our first pop-up restaurant and if you like what you read then be warned: it disappears at Christmas.

SN: a diversion first - we fancied a cocktail but decided to have it 590 feet above the Earth's crust on the 42nd Floor of Tower 42. Vertigo 42 is not that scary - though with it's panoramic views of the London skyline it is breathtaking.  We were seated facing North and the view of the Heron tower was stunning.  Photography slightly marred by the interior reflections - but worth it all the same.  The view is reflected on the large curving internal wall of this cocktail bar so for those who do suffer wobbles at height, the view inwards is rewarding and less precipitous.

We both had fruit flavoured bubbly cocktails which were delicious - then it was time for our descent to the 24th floor to AD12.

From the top of T42: Vertigo Bar

The entrance to TD12 might well be the entrance to one of the grand companies which are housed in the rest of the Tower but when the bar comes into view you're reassured.  We sat in the centre of the room - which was great for people watching but we missed out a little on the view (though we made up for it later). But this allowed us to give the food our full attention (until the wine came!)

It's a set price depending on the number of courses you have and we opted for 4 courses since I must eschew sugar and Lou is no fan of a cheese course.

And for wine, I continued my little bit of localised obsession by opting for an Alsace Gewurztraminer.  A gorgeous wine - the last bottle in their collection.  Full of flowery bouquet and succulent fruity overtones but not as sweet or as rich as some from the area.  

I started my meal with an arresting combination of flavours and that was just in the tiny mousse which combined coffee and cardamom in a cream dessert-like taste enhancer.  I could make much of the salisfy: its a vegetable I prefer to encounter when someone else has prepared it so worth dwelling on.  This was divine.  I'm not qualified to say whether this was black or common salisfy - it was a delicate taste and texture and an even elongated penne form.  This is an ancient root (though the common salisfy flower can be eaten too) but out of favour nowadays because it's hard to harvest and unforgiving if broken in the process.  The vaguely oyster flavour is quite enough to savour itself but with the fungi, the coffee and cardamom to counterpoint it, the whole dish is alive with soft but varied tastes.  It's a small thing but introduces the meal with a clear signature of flavour and feeling.

Salsify baked in salted butter, trompette mushrooms, grilled sourdough, coffee and cardamom.

LM: The waiter was excellent at recommending my dishes; they had several specials in addition to the regular menu and once I'd picked four courses from these he recommended the best order to have them in, a nice touch.

Slow poached egg, warm potato velouté, pink grapefruit relish, buckwheat

I started with a slow poached egg on warm potato velouté with pink grapefruit relish. I don't really have any frame of reference to describe this; it was like a very very very smooth runny mashed potato with grapefruit crystals hiding underneath. A wonderful combination of textures and flavours, I've never had grapefruit with potato (or really in any main course) and it worked beautifully. 

Smoked Cep with Egg on Toast

LM: My second starter (or first main, but it sounds less greedy to call 'em 2 starters) was a wonderful smoked cep and slow poached egg on sourdough toast. The bread benefited from being freshly baked before being toasted and the egg exploded in the way only a fantastic poaching can do; no sauce was really needed. The cep was massive and flavourful. Simple food executed very well.

Crisp pigs head, potato purée, mustard fruits

SN: To follow my positively pious starter the next dish was explosive - right out of the box.  A dense prism of pork meats packed and well cooked - such flavour as you'd only get from very well cooked pork; lean and powerful.  The potato puree softened it some but the mustard fruits stoked up the flavours.  But wait along side - a prawn cracker, sweet but with a crispness you'd want from crackling but with none of the lingering pork fat potential.  What's more - this is a filling dish of rich savoury muscle - it ticks all sorts of boxes for originality, flavour (again) and again a nod toward some fabulous out-of-fashion English favourites.

Sheep's ricotta gnudi

LM: My main course, sheep's ricotta gnudi, was my highlight of the meal. What, you may be asking, are gnudi? Well, I had no idea but I was assured they were vegetarian so decided to chance my arm and I'm glad I did. Google throws up some slightly conflicting definitions but they essentially tasted like a lighter, filled type of gnocchi. Not as heavy as gnocchi but not quite a ravioli either. Sheep's ricotta is more pungent than whatever I usually buy from the supermarket which suited the dish; the gnudi were accompanied by roasted muscat grapes, wet walnuts and an olive crumble. There was also a slice of onion squash which, if I'm honest, didn't add much apart from a splash of colour to the dish. The biggest shock was that we managed to get a photo of it before I dove in; I would quite happily have eaten another portion straight after despite being pleasantly full by this point.

SN notes: I have come to recognise the value of fast reaction times by taking photos of fast moving birds - kingfishers in flight are positively slovenly when compared to my gorgeous companion when on a mission with a main course or in pursuit of a pudding :-)

SN: I had something that started like this:

 

Went on like this:-  

 

And ended up like this:-

Wild halibut, butternut squash, girolles,

shrimps and red quinoa salad,

salted butter

This was utterly glorious and one of the best fish courses I have had in ages. The last time I had halibut was on the harbour side in Anstruther, Fife - a terrible watery and tasteless affair which was fried with no subtly and tasted more of the freezer in which it had spent too long.  This was billed as Wild Halibut and yes, I do know about the sustainability problems there are for this fish.  Demand for halibut is not what it was so it's a precarious balance - methods of sustaining the fish can destroy the livelihoods of fishing communities if incomes aren't maintained.  On balance I decided to maintain demand and leave sustainability to Government's and fishing communities.

This a beautifully planned and presented dish the details of it's pictorialism are captured above: girolles presented gills up, curling shrimps amongst curling quinoa and a lozenge of squash against another prism, this time of prime, succulent, delicate halibut.  The tastes were fantastic - the idea and it's execution were delicious.

 

LM: As it happened I was happy to have left room for dessert; an English custard tart highlighted again the skill of the chefs working at AD12. Custard was just the right blend of sweet and nutmeg-y and had a lovely firm texture. I'm not usually a fan of raisins but in this case they added beautifully to the dish with a scattering of cobnuts and a sweet syrup; it was a lovely mix of flavours that managed to remain classical but interesting and most importantly not overpoweringly rich.

SN: Five cheeses made up my fourth and final course - I'm afraid the names escaped me but the variety was wide and again the advice from the my guide to the cheese trolley was sound.

Served with fruit bread (with a substantial hazelnut presence in the softy fruity dough), quince jelly and a preserved fig - this was a very acceptable alternative to a sweet sweet.
 

We ended the meal with a rather gorgeous Tokaji - lighter than some I've had but busting with flavour - sadly of unknown provenance. As I'd ordered a coffee we were presented with this little exercises in solid geometry in sweet form.  The explosive concentrated tastes were something quite marvellous: under-stated, unexpected even, but such appealing combinations and strong bold flavours.  Like the rest of the meal itself.

Petit Fours: White Chocolate, Salted Caramel Truffle and Pear Jelly

But this is a pop-up restaurant and it closes in a matter of weeks.  To taste this menu you must move quickly.

The news is not all bad though.  There are plans afoot to re-open in May-June 2014 with a permanent establishment in the same spot.  I will be eager to go back there - not doubt it will be a success - such confident dishes, served with style and elan in such metropolitan circumstances deserve support and more of our custom.

Grainstore: Garden of Earthy Delights

GRAIN STORE

Granary Square
1-3 Stable Street
King's Cross
London
N1C 4AB

NOTE: since we visited Grainstore the menu has changed to reflect Autumn produce.  We will review that menu when we've got over this amazing trip round the garden of of Earthy Delights (with some but not many apologies to Hieronymus Bosch).

Roman Country Wines (in hats)

SN: We've been to Grainstore before and we were so pleasantly surprised by the surprise menu that we decided to go back again.  As fate would have it in early October, I was travelling through King's Cross and needed a break, so I popped into the bar and persuaded Lou off her sick bed to come and join me for drinks and bar snacks: we booked our third visit to Grainstore on a high of chips (me) and Roman Country wines (Lou).

Grainstore is a busy, bistro type establishment in the Granary Yard at King's Cross - it has competition in the area, it has competition in the City but it my view it yields to none of them.  It is comparable to none of them.  In between visits it's been voted the UK's Most Sustainable Restaurant in the National Restaurant Awards and is 9th on their list of the best establishments. There's a bar and plenty of tables outside when the weather is clement.  It is notable as the idea of Bruno Loubet and has only been open since June and yet already it is acclaimed.  Loubet interview in the Guardian explained the vegetable emphasis (but it's not a vegetarian restaurant is the usual rider to that).

This is a busy place mostly and the bar was chocker when we went.  We whetted our whistles with two of the delicate, delectable Roman wines (as the name suggests these are to ancient recipes) - Lou had a cassis and clove (which is available with red or white wine), I had the warming smoked paprika.  These are home made with staff working Sunday mornings to prepare the supplies for the week.  They are delicate, refreshing and neither too sweet or too alcoholic to blur the edges of your meal.  But if you are wanting something more exotic savoury cocktails flavoured variously with pumpkin and maple syrup or hay and butter, and all equally surprising.

LM: We decided to start with onion bread with creme fraiche butter. Subtly flavoured and freshly baked and cut at the side of the restaurant it was every bit as good as we remembered from before and we wolfed the lot down in seconds.

Onion Bread with Creme Friache butter

SN: To be fair we had been there over and hour and I was acting with that involuntary hunger that fresh bread always seems to provoke.  We were well looked after at our table: the staff at Grainstore know the food, gladly give you an opinion or some options and are attentive but not overly so - they do not simple wait on your table, they are attendants, cabin crew and connoisseurs too. We opted for a three course option.  For starter I went for the Courgette, Broad Bean and prawn falafel with rocket leaves and raita is a wonder to behold with its greens and whites and flecks of sesame seed against the rich crispy taupe coating.  It was divine - and I'm sure veggies would pine for a all veg option of this dish.  The prawn are a sultry highlight against the rich deep spices.  This is a sensual pleasure too in the texture of the pure white crunchy cucumber raita against the crisp delight of the falafel coating.  It's a winner.

We have no problems choosing wines for our meals since neither of us is especially bothered if on occasion the wine doesn't match the food.  But with sausages in mind a strong red presence was called for and I opted for a Jura wine reflecting the roots of the restaurant.  This Ploussard came out of the bottle (once the pleasing heavy wax seal had been penetrated) a little lively and immediately fruity - but as it settled its great vistas of depth, warmth and variety came out.  A lovely fruity tone mellowed deeper and darker and matched the changing tastes we'd order rather well.  I've not explored many wines of this region but the middle lands of Europe are yielding great pleasures for me of late.

LM: My starter was handmade butternut squash ravioli with sage and mustard apricots and pumpkin seed oil. It's worth noting that lots of the dishes can be served in either small or large portions which means if you're as indecisive as me you can easily pick two main courses but have them in different sizes. I tend to avoid pasta dishes; especially vegetarian ones have a tendency to be rather heavy and in massive portion sizes. My faith in Grainstore paid off though; silky handmade pasta filled with butternut squash so well pureed it dropped out of them if you held them upside down was classically accomplished but the idea to pair it with a sticky apricot sauce was just a stroke of genius. Could have eaten a bucket full of it! [SN: she could!] Pretty sure some of the salad leaves were deep fried as well which made them melt in the mouth.

SN: As those who know me will testify, I'm a great lover of sausage, and as it happens pie (evidenced here) and the two ovens at Grainstore serve food off the menu and the choice between rabbit and game sausage was a hard one.  This game sausage was served with roughly mashed carrot and potato, pear chutney and cabbage.  Very straightforward - but the tastes were heavenly - from this earth Bruno has produced the most angelic cabbage I've tasted, rich, concentrated, intriguing but still cabbage.  The sausages were rich too but not too gamey, textured and delicately flavoured in many ways.  As a sausage maker (lapsed), I salute this dish of bangers and mash as the finest I've been served anywhere ever!

LM: Second course for me was vegetable merguez with lemony vegetables. The 'sausage' had a lovely texture and just about as much chilli kick as I can manage (I'm a notorious wimp though, so it's mild by most peoples' standards). The vegetables were the star of the dish though; firm, flavourful and spiked through with an intense lemon dressing.

I went back and forward on whether I wanted a dessert or not; some reviews have been less than complimentary and after two outstanding main courses it seemed a shame to risk a disappointment. Then I remembered where I was and begged for recommendations from our lovely waitress. I went for the goats milk pannacotta with candied tomatoes. I'm not usually a particular fan of pannacotta but I think because of the goats milk it wasn't too sweet, had a lovely firm texture (without being jelly-like) and contained CANDIED TOMATOES. I've never had these before; it was a revelation. Like...jam but with tomatoes but with something dark and sticky...even a week on my mind is still blown. Yes, it takes a little mental work to get past the concept of a savoury dessert, but well worth it.

SN: The cheese on offer was a rare treat.  I chose a mild creamy goats cheese coated in ash and a harder milder French cheese with ash running through it.  The marvel here is not only the gentle benediction to the cheese makers art but a heap of phrase and thanks to the breadmaker's art too.  Delicate, tasty sweet potato flour wafers  provided a crisp alternative preferable to a wheat flour alternative.  Beneath the uneven folds lie a rich date and walnut bread - or at least that what it appeared to be - it was jolly tasty, but who knows what combination Loubet would use to match the cheese.

A glass of heady dessert wine sealed the deal like a cooled mobile light honey, this Muscat de Rivesaltes, Domaine les Enfants Sauvages 2012 each provided a conclusive end to the meal...or at least would have provided an end if I hadn't held Lou up with an Americano which was worth a trip up the road from Kings Cross by itself.  The savage children put to bed by a divine (for London) reminder of French coffee sophistication.

I bought the cookbook to try and keep the high - Lou's dishes fare better than mine in terms of coverage, but Bruno Loubet continues to inspire not just with his exquisite tastes but his reminder that vegetables, fruits, berries, seeds and the produce of good earth can be as exciting, entrancing and immediate as meat, fish or fowl.

Outside Grainstore, Kings Cross has been transformed into something of a water and light wonderland.  Adults, sober adults at that, play, watch, film and chat about a glorious set of water features and boulevardiers reminisce in mini Parisian avenues, with authentic street furniture supplemented by wall friezes to mask the building still going on.

Grainstore represents a change for the better: I love it.

We paid £155 for two - all drinks included 

Paesan

Paesan

2 Exmouth Market, 
London 
EC1R 4PX 
United Kingdom
 
020 7837 7139

LM: After an expensive month following Galvin la Chapelle we decided to try something a little lighter on the purse and visited Paesan on the recommendation of several other food bloggers. The premise is rustic Italian food and the decor of the restaurant is stripped back and dark, boasting (maybe) fake animal heads and...err...traditional neon sign advertising the cocktails.

We turned up early hoping for a drink in the bar downstairs but unfortunately it isn't open every day so worth checking on the website if you're planning to do that.

Nonetheless, staff were more than happy to seat us early and we had a pre-dinner cocktail in the restaurant without being hurried to order food which is always nice. The cocktail list is short with a few specials on the board; I had a Paesan te Freddo, which was lemony, amaretto-y, punchy and basically fantastic. Great flavours and not overloaded with ice which seems to be happening more and more often. We were served bread on the side, freshly made and studded with explosively tasty sun dried tomatoes. So far so good...

SN: There was something admirably relaxed and maybe slightly off-beat about this restaurant, but it felt comfortable the moment we sat down.  Paesan is bright and intimate at the same time.  The staff are friendly and the menu is interesting but it's not a place designed only to appeal to foodies.  Moreover when my first two choices of Italian red wine weren't available the suggestion was for something considerably cheaper, I fell back in my seat and enjoyed the warm inner glow of someone who is not being fleeced....

The decor is quirky and I can excuse my fellow diner's inexperience in assessing the provenance of boar's heads - that one was real - the look of shock at ramming it's head through a wall was authentic in my view.

My cocktail was a very strong chili Bloody Mary and frankly I was left a little woozy by its effect.  My bad.

The Antigniano Sangiovese 'Convito' 2012 which I was recommended is a lovely drink but very much a standard sangiovese taste - warming and rich cherry flavour.  Nothing special but it was half the price or what I'd planned to buy and made real sense against some robust flavours too.



LM: We shared a selection of plates tapas style rather than going down the 'starter-main' route and it worked really well. The website has an idea of the menu but there were plenty of specials on the day as well. {SN: and the staff were happy to advise on portion sizes}

The standout starter for me was burrata with aubergine caponata. Really simple food but done so well; the burrata was rich and creamy and the caponata cut through beautiful, a darker and smokier taste than I'm used to but absolutely delicious.

A dandelion and walnut salad was a first for me and was perhaps a little heavy on the dressing but that might just be my taste; either way lovely to see unusual vegetarian dishes on the menu.

SN: The third starter - a lemon and courgette Arancini had a real flavour and gratifying crunch to it, not at all soggy as reported in one review I've seen.  I recall much sadder affairs in swankier restaurants.  I loved the dandelion salad, I was reminded of the meadows of my youth and unhealthy pre-occupation with kicking the heads of dandelion clocks.  No immediate diuretic effect was forthcoming despite what herbalists might say.

Pizza fritto

LM: Pizza fritto came from the specials board, and was a deep fried pizza base with a gut-busting covering of goats cheese, butternut squash, rosemary and roasted red onion. Healthy it ain't but when it tastes that good it's worth the guilt.

SN:  Our "side" dishes were substantial both in quantity and quality: Cabbage with chestnut was sweet and not a hint of wateriness.  The braised fennel lacked a strong aniseed taste - but that was fine by me.  The potatoes were a substantial presence in aroma, taste and calorific contribution - but it had been a long hard day and carbs were called for.

My main course was grilled chicken with aoili (quite mild - or at least it seemed so).  Very simple, super succulent and filling.  We perhaps ordered one dish too many in view of the size of the main courses but it was nice to sample a range and we were both starving! These things happen when you go into the hinterland.

My sweet was a fanatically acidic Raspberry-y and Lemony Sorbet which frankly I could have done without but it probably aided my digestion. Lou's I think was better....

LM: indeed - I'm fairly easily pleased when it comes to chocolate cake, but this was really wonderful. This one was flourless, but without the soggy middle that sometimes comes with that. Served with fresh fruit and (from memory) vanilla marscapone it was a sensible sized portion and tasted like it had been freshly made within the hour which is (sadly) unusual in London restaurants.

Because I'm a firm believer in gluttony, I followed up with a limoncello shot. Aside from nearly blowing my eyebrows off with its strength it was delicious - very fresh without too much sugar that it became syrupy.

SN: I'll conclude by saying that you will find better food, better wine and better value elsewhere in London - but you may have to search them out and you could will struggle to do better for a reasonably priced hearty meal anywhere within the area.  The Paesan feel is ultimately a million miles away from rural Italy or indeed rural anywhere else - despite the wild boar lodged in one of the high walls. This kind of manufactured effect is done elsewhere in London - the saving grace here is that you won't go hungry, the wine does the job without breaking the bank and everyone is helpful and smiley.  Service is quick, discrete and we stayed at our table for nearly an hour after we'd eaten without any pressure to surrender our table.

There's a slightly over the top feeling to Paesan - if signs like this help you feel at home - its probably for you :-)