Restaurant Story

Here's my meal at Restaurant Story, in pictures.  This place has been on my list for some time, since it opened to rave reviews around a year ago.  I just had to try before I leave.  We opted for the 10 course tasting menu for £80. SO_MUCH_FOOD. 

Cod skin with cod emulsion, really crispy and fishy.  Establishing the theme - pretty on a plate.
(Or in some cases, on a napkin on a plate).

Radish with kelp butter, FG.  BG - oreo, smoked eel and vinegar.  

Nicest of the amuses.

Can't for the life of me remember what this one was.  Bad blogger.

Frogs legs!  I got to eat both of these because Art couldn't stomach them.  

Tasted like chicken, obvs.

 Signature beef dripping 'candle' to accompany the bread.  

 Razor clam with puffed rice and some kind of 'snow'.  Excellent. 

Boudin noir bites.  So dark.  Everything is rather beautiful.

Little rabbit sandwiches with carrots and tarragon.

To go with the dripping - bread and cubes of tongue with consomme.

I somehow neglected to photograph what came next.  Onion, apple and old tom. It was, unsurprisingly, very pretty indeed.  The old tom (tomato juice) was my favourite thing about it.

This was great too, scallop, cucumber (the balls), dill ash.

 Foie gras, pear and thyme.  Brulee topped.  A tad sickly, over sweet.

Wild stems, squid and pine honey.  Squid was amazing.  

You can just see it, white bits.

Loved this - heritage potato, turnip and coal oil.  Smoothest mash ever.

My out and out favourite dish was the beef with grains, 

watercress and sloes.  Just lovely.

We had cheese, it was great. £10 supplement from (poor) memory.

Pre dessert - something citrussy.  Crunchy and zesty.  Refreshing.

Pretty levels got ridiculous with the almond and dill dessert. 

Lovage, borage, milk and apple.  This was really interesting,  Crunch, stickiness,

creamy frozen milk, milk wafers and leaf garnishes, bizarrely brilliant.

Porridges on a goldilocks theme.  Sweet, salty and just right.

I liked the salty best.  Really fun.

slightly disappointing end, pear, artichoke and lemon.  

Will savoury desserts go away already.

Then these came and I was happy again.  Rhubarb shakes. 

I was really very full at this point.  You can supplement the 10 courser with extra dishes, beef with truffle and veal sweetbreads for £15 each.  We really didn't need them.  There's also a 6 course option for £60.  At the time, we felt the meal was a touch style over substance, but looking back and reviewing the pictures, I feel like there was a lot of skill demonstrated in these dishes.  Each amuse bouche was fun and there are a lot of them.

I'm glad to have made it at last, but it's not the kind of restaurant I would choose to revisit.  Didn't see anyone else bringing and leaving a book, which was the gimmick when they first opened.  Like the colour organised book shelf lining the far restaurant wall.  And the open kitchen is cute.  We drank martinis, wine and more wine and this was not a cheap meal.  We paid £150 each with booze and tip.  I do have a lot of time for chef Tom Sellers though, the menu is very seasonal and brimming with British produce.  We ate a lot of flowers!

Restaurant Story

201 Tooley St

Bermondsey

SE1

9/10

February Round Up

This has been my last full month in London.  I’m off to Canada on 20^th March, exciting.  I’ve tried to cram as much as physically possible into my final few months.  Here’s a quick round up of some February eats.

40 Maltby Street

Early in the month Art and I head to Maltby Street market in search of doughnuts and general treats.  St John Bakery came up trumps, imitations of these are everywhere at the moment.  This one was chocolate filled.  #idontevenlikedoughnuts but I love these things.

Then we ate at 40 Maltby Street.  I have one word for you - HAM.  Go there and eat it.  The lamb broth and champers by the glass were equally pleasing.  Really liked the place.  Very interesting wine list.  Spent around £40 each I think.  The toasts were also amazing, seen in front of the ham, anchovy paste and rare roast beef. 

40 Maltby St

Maltby St Market

SE1

8/10

Polpetto

After a long wait, I finally made it to Polpetto.  I never went to the French House incarnation, which is a shame as I love the bar.  Anyway, Russell, Florence and co are now permanently based on Berwick and I've been twice already *smug*.

Highlights for me have included the hare papardelle (£8) and the scallop, cauliflower and lardo (£12.50).  The service was still somewhat green.  There were some breakages on one visit, we weren’t given napkins or cutlery and we were very rushed.  We had to repeatedly tell the guys behind the bar that we weren’t finished yet as they tried to clean away the plates with food left on them.  Annoying.  Early days though.  They’d run out of the rhubarb and rose mix so we couldn’t have the drink we wanted.  I went back for lunch and things were much better.  And Russell was there both times!

Spent about £55 each for dinner and half that at lunch

Polpetto

11 Berwick St

Soho

W1F

7.5/10 

Casse Croute

Much earlier in the month I practised my French by visiting Casse Croute on Bermondsey Street.  There were 3 of us, and there are 3 options for each course on the daily changing chalkboard menu.  Highlights were the terrine de foie gras (£8) and the confit de canard with confit potatoes (£14.50).  The place is small but the food is really excellent and the service friendly.  It’s really good value cooking and a perfect local if you live in the area.

  

Casse Croute

109 Bermondsey St

SE1

9/10 

Brindisa

I went for lunch with AV to Brindisa Soho last week.  I’ve been to Tramontana, but never any of the other venues so was keen to try.  I was really impressed with everything we ate.  Lovely padron peppers (none hot though, do these exist anymore), brilliant cheese croquettes, iberico ham was awesome.  Bloody massive bloody olives were a highlight, stuffed with lemon.  The garlic prawns were good too, leaving behind a nice garlicky oil for dunking bread.  Tip – the room to the rear near the open kitchen is where you want to be.  The front end feels cramped and dark in comparison.  Guilt inducing deep fried goatscheese with honey was also excellent, loved the place.  Cost around £40 each for all this and a few cheeky lunchtime bevs.  Cava and rose.  

Brindisa Soho

46 Broadwick St

Soho

W1F 

8/10

Pizza East – K-Town

Bel, Lisa and I head to Pizza East one Saturday night before a night out in Camden.  We wanted Chicken Shop really but they were full and we didn’t fancy a 2 hour wait.  We sat at the bar overlooking the kitchen and I ordered the 4 cheese pizza (£9) with a side of mac & cheese.  Ha!  Really liked the pizza.  Service was efficient and happy, I really like the place.  The fact that I live a mere 5 minute walk away is a bonus, I hope to complete the trio and visit Chicken Shop in a couple of weeks (already been to Dirty Burger).  Pizzas are less than £10 and they have loads of other stuff on the menu.  The salads next to us on the bar looked interesting, as did the whacking great hunk of pork.

Pizza East Kentish Town

79 Highgate Road

NW5

7/10

Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels (CVS)

Valentines night with my girly friend in a romantic wine bar was much fun.  Not in the least bit depressing that there were a million couples in there!  We got stuck into the champagne and wines by the glass and after a slow start got plenty of food throughout the evening.  Highlight was always going to be the croque madame.  It was a cheese heavy affair with the cheeseboard, the burrata and the curds and crudité all making an appearance.  Really liked the place.  All very nice, more French practise. 

Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels (CVS)

10 Neals Yard

Covent Garden

WC2H

8/10

 

And onto the first of my eating adventures in Montreal.  I went for a week at the beginning of the month.  Most things I ate were inspired by this article, on the 35 must eat sandwiches in the city, seemed like a good place to start.

Schwartz’s

Starting with the main event, Schwarz’ Hebrew Delicatessen for all your smoked meat needs.  I asked what to have and it was this, obvs….

Schwartz's

3985 Boulevard Saint-Laurent

Plateau

10/10

Olive et Gourmando

Sandwich disappointment followed at Olive & Gourmando, they’d sold out of the Cubain but it’s very close to my office, so I’ll be back for it in a few weeks.  I had to have the mac & cheese instead, which was awful for me.  Truffle mushroom mac & cheese with a herb and nut salad.  It’s a hard life.  I counterbalanced this fatfest with a pot of peppermint tea.  Very good.

Olive et Gourmando

351 Saint Paul W

Notre Dame (ish)

6/10

Upstairs at the Ten Bells

My first visit to Upstairs at the Ten Bells was fairly last minute, booking just the night before, lucking out most likely due to the tube strike, we surmised.

Anyway, it was a brilliant meal with some of the loveliest service I can remember encountering for a long while. At the end of the meal we drank grappa with the team and signed up to return a little over a week later for a wine pairing night.

Highlights of the first meal for me were their signature buttermilk chicken (£6.50), obvs, and the pillowyest gnocchi I've ever eaten, served with prawns, mussels and pink radicchio (£7.50). Dreamy stuff.

On the night of the Tutto Wines dinner, things were a bit more lively. 5 courses each paired with a wine match from Tutto Wines for £60 a head.  Really great value.

Most memorable dish of the night by a million miles for me was the Roast Somerset Kid with Tokyo turnips, January king cabbage and anchovy.  Loved every element of it down to the crunchy garnish. Divine.

Special mention also goes to the salt baked halibut with monks beard and oyster olive oil.  The evening also marked the occasion of my first experience with horse salami.  Very intense.

Anyway, I adored the place.  And I'm kicking myself that I only recently made it there having been meaning to for ages.  The Clove Club was one of my favourite lunches of 2013 so I really ought to have known better. I just hope I can find somewhere vaguely similar in Montreal but I fear I won't.  They're also responsible for one of the nicest desserts I've had recently, the rhubard, buttermilk mousse with milk crisps and almonds (£7).  Chef Giorgio Ravelli is doing the Young Turks proud.

Upstairs at the Ten Bells
84 Commercial St
E1
8.5/10

The Dairy

Had the tasting menu at The Dairy for Sunday lunch last week.  It's a bargain at £45 for 7 courses. Each really interesting and identifiably from this restaurant.  Chef Robin Gill has a unique style, dishes were very pretty and texture combinations were wonderful.

Canapé type thing kicked off proceeding.  Hispi cabbage and some kind of cheesy sauce. Pro description there.  It was great though, some crunch and some tang.  Next up came some nocellara del belice olives, never heard of them but they're very green and very good.

First more substantial (using that word loosely, as none of the dishes could be described as large or hearty but that's not a bad thing here) course was the Cornish crab with malted barley and salsify.  Note the bowl, and the plate, very nice indeed, interesting crockery always makes me jealous.

Then came this, perhaps my least favourite of all the dishes, rooftop carrots, goatscheese, oat granola and buttermilk.  The cheese was nice, the rest, I was underwhelmed by.

What followed was one of the most memorable courses of them all, a warm sourdough rye loaf with smoked bone marrow butter, chicken liver mousse and salumi.  I greedily ate half the loaf of bread before realizing we were splitting between 3, it was so good I forgot to be polite.  The middle bowl contains the mousse, that was the one. 

Last of the snacks was the chicken skin, kale and wild mushroom dish, another favourite of mine.  Perfectly cooked thigh meat lurking beneath the kale, so many textures and intense chickeny flavours, this was perfect with the house white we'd ordered.

Swiftly on to the fish section of the menu.  This is Julie girl monkfish (why Julie?  I don't know) served with swiss chard and bonito butter.  Lovely delicate fish with chard leaves, not stalks and a creamy but slightly tart sauce, I was feeling rather smug as we tackled bottle of wine number 2.  What a lovely way to spend a Sunday.

 
Another fish dish, the Lady Hamilton smoked cod with potato and fresh nori.  I love the inventiveness of the flavours of the dish, but I wasn't sold on the texture combos.  Too yielding and slushy.  The nori was a tad overpowering too.

The next dish took us onto dry land, the Yorkshire venison with beetroot, rhubarb and nibbed cocao sauce was a touch sweet for my liking.  Fruity too of course, with the addition of rhubard (which I love, don't get me wrong) but with the chocolate, it was a bit much for me.  Great meat though.

I insisted that we have the cheese course, and was happily met with very little resistance from my companions.  This is truffled brie on toast, drizzled with honey.  The scent of the truffle was a lot more discernible than the taste, but it's truffled brie for goodness sake, it was obviously brilliant.  £4 supplement for these.  We shared 1 which was ample.

Onto sweet, this is clementine, brown butter and rice.  Citrus sorbet is the ultimate palate cleanser, that's what this was intended to be.  The puffed rice was a nice addition.

There was a choice of the 2nd pudding, salted caramel, biscuits with malted barley ice cream or pear, toasted white chocolate and sheeps milk pannacotta (pictured in the fg).  We weren't so keen on these.  Perhaps the 3rd bottle of wine played a part but the salted caramel was the better of the 2.

I'd witnessed every table around us get a tin box of petit fours at this point of the meal, we missed out but were given this instead, rhubard sorbet with lemon curd and Italian meringue.  It was amazing, I pretended to be upset about the tin, but really I was over the moon that we got this.  Italian meringue is one of my favourite things in the world.  Fact.

We were the last people to leave at around 5:30pm.  We weren't at all rushed and I thought the service was generally pretty good.  The atmosphere is fun and vibrant, I really liked the place and if I were staying in London, it would become a regular haunt.  In Clapham of all places.  A tasting menu this good for £45 is an absolute steal.  Matching wines are available for an extra £35, that is such a bargain I'm kicking myself that we didn't do it.  We ended up spending £70 a head anyway.  You should go there, because I can't, and I want them to do well.

The Dairy
15 The Pavement
Clapham
SW4
9/10