Social Eating House

Off the back of the success of Pollen St Social, Jason Atherton has opened two new restaurants only a matter of months apart. The latest, Social Eating House is a contemporary laid back bistro, serving a British menu with international flare. Downstairs, there is a 15 seat chefs table right among the hustle of the kitchen, and upstairs a secret cocktail bar serving funky sliders and potent cocktails. The Social Eating House expands on Atherton's 'social' ethos. It is all about creating the perfect environment to lounge, relax and drink some good wine while enjoying the hearty yet innovative food. 

The Foragers

The Dead Dolls Club
428 Kingsland Road
Dalston
E8 4AA

Founded by George Fredenham, The Foragers started out in a St Albans pub, The Verulam Arms, and now chefs are cooking up a storm and creating the ‘foraging’ movement in a wide range of other locations. The Dead Dolls Club is one of these locations where The Foragers serve an inventive and tasteful foraged ‘grazing menu’ from Wednesday to Sunday. With the ingredients from the Hertfordshire countryside there is a little bit of ‘wild’ in every dish.

Pollen Street Social

Dessert Bar - Photo Pollen Street Social

This vibrant and unpretentious establishment has been a very busy social butterfly since opening its doors in April 2011. Although this was not the intention Pollen St earned a Michelin star within 6 months of opening and was named best new UK restaurant by the good food guide 2012.  This is no small achievement and is definitely reflected in the creative dishes, the service and the relaxed yet vibrant atmosphere.

Restaurant view

Brown's Hotel Afternoon Tea

Founded in 1837 Brown’s Hotel is one of the most established 5 star hotels in London. Walking distance to Green Park and Hyde Park and smack bang in the middle of Mayfair this hotel really needs no further explanations. And while a stay at Brown’s might be a big splurge for most, relaxing in their English Tea Room is accessible to all and is highly recommended.

The English Tea Room offers afternoon tea and light snacks and has been doing so since the mid nineteenth century. However there is nothing dated about this offering, in fact Brown’s has a great number of options including tea-tox; a healthy version of their award-wining traditional afternoon tea. Healthy eating has never been more prominent and this sugar free, low fat and low carb option is very much on trend. And I can assure you that this option is still as indulgent and decadent as the traditional one. I should know, we had both!

Tea Tox on left and Traditional on right

As hard as it is to stay away from the traditional and tasty freshly cut sandwiches and scones with clotted cream & jam, the tea-tox smoked chicken & quacamole on spelt bread and poached salmon & dill creme fraiche on dark rye definitely stepped up to the challenge. The sea buckthorn jelly cut through some of the sweetness present in the other dessert options while the orange cake and flourless chocolate cake made me wonder whether they were on the right tray! You can eat as much and drink as much tea as fits into your stomach and for £39.50 this elegant experience is very good value. 

The Victorian tea room is comfortable and warm and the atmosphere is radiant with music coming from the piano. Our waiter ensured our tea cups were always full and our plates never empty. As far as my experiences go with afternoon tea, this has been my number one.

Clapham South Side

I have only just discovered what could be two of the top foodie establishments around Clapham: The Rookery (B) and Abeville Kitchen (A), both situated half way between Clapham Common and Clapham South. Although the design concepts may be different, the overall ideas are the same: changing seasonal menu around well sourced seasonal ingredients.

Map Location

St John Hotel *** now closed ***

** please note this restaurant is now closed, however Tom Harris (Head Chef) now heads the new One Leicester Street in the same location ***

St Johns Hotel opened in Spring 2011 and went through a 'talk of the town' phase for quite some time, especially for its breakfasts. On this Saturday afternoon the white clothed tables were seemingly empty, but we chose to sit outside in the more cafe-style setting. 

The open plan stainless steel kitchen does all of its own butchering, and the philosophy of using the 'head to tail' of a pig is very much used throughout the menu which changes on a daily basis. Something that I love.

The menu consisted of Roast Bone Marrow & Parsley Salad, Game Pie & Apple Jelly, Snails Duck Hearts & Lovage just to name a few. From the suggestion of our very knowledgeable waitress we went for a selection of dishes to share. 

Duck Liver Toast hit all the right notes however was nothing compared to the Devilled Pig's Skin & Smoked Salmon Roe. Perfectly crispy and slightly spicy crackling was amazingly complimented by the salty salmon roe. A great but surprising combination of flavours. 

Duck Liver Toast £6.80

Devilled Pig's Skin & Smoked Cod's Roe £6.80

Duck and Waffle

View from D&W bar - that is the Shard

Spread over three floors in the sky joined together by luminous orange windy stairs are Sushisamba and Duck & Waffle. The views are ridiculous as you can imagine, and the extremely trendy bars belonging to each restaurant are filled with the type that these sky high places would attract. The outside terrace belonging to Sushisamba is very much New York rooftop Moscow bling and you probably either love it or hate it, much like marmite. Although I am not sure how anyone could ever hate THAT view? … Maybe just the glass lift..

View from D&W bar staircase down to Sushi Samba

Duck & Waffle (D&W) restaurant on the 40^th floor of the Heron Tower is very much part of the sky with its contemporary dining room and floor to ceiling windows. An open kitchen brings warmth to the dining area while the service somewhat resembles Michelin-star quality. But there are no table cloths and the prices are very reasonable ranging from £4 to £10 per plate. 

BRINKLEY's

Brinkley’s on Hollywood Rd Chelsea is a bit of an institution it seems. Packed to the brim on a Saturday night with a one in one out policy, the restaurant at the back still resembles an airy sanctuary. Until maybe 10pm, but we signed up for that. 

Restaurant at the back. Photo thanks to Brinkleys

The menu showed promise and seasonality with deep fried courgette flower, tuna tartare, beetroot & ricotta tortelloni, and seasonal English asparagus. The terrine of foie gras (£9.50) was a lot like pure foie gras served with beetroot, ginger and apple chutney, and worked well together. It was smooth and buttery with welcoming chutney sweetness.

Event: Meantime Beer and Food Pairing at The Orange

I have been to The Orange on one other occasion last year, after a long 'Boris Bike' ride. This was the perfect place to sum up a quintessential London day. Moments from Sloan Square in serene surroundings The Orange, with its white-wash wood panel interior and delicious beers also serves very creative and enticing dishes. So when I was invited to attend their first ever Food and Beer pairing event, I was more than excited.

In the weeks leading up to the night, I read an interesting article in Scout magazine called "London's Brewing" talking about how beer is undergoing a major overhaul at the hands of London's top chefs and restaurants. This however, is more of a revival of the old ways when back in the day beer was a natural accompaniment to some dishes dating back as far as the16th Century. The article reinforced that The Orange's new food and beer event was very much on trend.

On arrival we were warmly greeted and given a glass of Meantime Pale Ale to start the night. Meantime brewery is still quite new in the scheme of things, having only been founded in the year 2000. However, it is already the second largest brewer in London after Fuller's, and we were going to taste five of their beers, one for each course served; Meantime London Lager, Meantime Wheat Beer, Meantime Stout, Meantime London Pale Ale, Meantime Chocolate Porter.

The Menu

Each course was preceded by a brief discussion and description from the Executive chef from The Orange, the Head Brewer and the Sommelier from Meantime. The food was carefully described and the beer pairing elements explained. And what a feast it was!



English asparagus & Lancashire Bomb tart, asparagus salad

Starting with the asparagus and Lancashire Bomb tart, I immediately could tell that the meal was not only going to be delicious, it was also going to be very filling. The portions well thought out, yet quite generous. The first course was served with a Meantime London Lager. A crisp and clean flavour, the hops in this lager enabled it to stand up to the strong flavour of the cheese.    

Steamed Anglesey mussels, smoked bacon, endive & beer sauce

Steamed Anglesey mussels came next paired with the Meantime Wheat Beer. With a frothy mouthfeel and fruity aromas the beer gave a very welcoming taste sensation when mixed with the muscles. Overall I found the dish slightly on the heavy side however, with the creamy mussels the bread and the bacon, and was a little alarmed that it was only course two.

Braised beef cheek & bacon pie, shallots, wild mushrooms & bone marrow jus

Admiral Collingwood washed rind cheese, water crackers

The braised beef cheek and bacon pie that came out next was a little bit of a masterpiece on a plate. Perfectly golden, it was rich on the inside and adorned with shallots and bone marrow jus on the outside. The Meantime Stout paired with this dish was another stand out and my favourite beer of the night. Velvety on the tongue with coffee aromas it was the perfect accompaniment with this dish. Both rich in flavour and in body, very down to earth and very satisfying.  Apparently the Stout would also go great with Oysters, something I will have to try.
 
Cheese was the next course paired with Meantime London Pale Ale.  This semi-soft cheese has a lovely rich, buttery taste, but for me became slightly too strong after an already rich meal. 

Valrhona fair trade dark chocolate & Meantime Chocolate Porter mousse, coffee shortbread

Dessert was served with Meantime Chocolate Porter. This beer however is not entirely just a dessert beer. In fact as per the head brewer, it would also go well with casseroles, stews and Mexican food! Tonight however it is served with a Chocolate Porter mousse, and the two really compliment eachother. I am not one for drinking beer with dessert, but this deep dark chocolate flavour is unique. The mousse was also rich and fluffy with just a hint of the Porter to add body to the dish. I clearly don't need to point out that I was stuffed to the brim.

The service was attentive and outstanding. The Hosts, the Executive Chef and the representatives from Meantime were all very knowledgeable and approachable. Not only did they present each dish with deep background, they were also able to answer questions while walking around the tables during dinner. Needless to say they were very interesting.

The Orange is very keen to keep this event going throughout the year, and even though I was a guest on this night, I would have been more than happy to pay the £50. For the quantity of beer and the quality of food it would be hard to find such value elsewhere, especially around this neighbourhood.

Do get in touch with Marine Coltier (Event Manager) at the Orange for further event and date details.
Email: marine@cubitthouse.co.uk
Website: http://www.theorange.co.uk/

Brixton Village Grill

Brixton Village Grill, is situated right in the hustle and bustle of the Brixton Market. Brixton Village itself is something out of a toy box; adorned with pastel coloured shop/restaurant fronts across a number of mini New York style named ‘avenues’ such as 5^th and 6^th . And thanks to the Brixton Market roof, the Brixton Village ‘gold mine’ of foodie venues can be enjoyed come rain or shine!

The Brixton Village Grill, is indeed one of these little particles of gold, serving a fusion of Portuguese and English cuisine. Uncomplicated dishes such as char-grilled steak, spareribs, market fish, hand cut chips, chicken liver pate and yummy in-house made desserts.

The prawns to start with were probably slightly over done, however the char-grilled flavours were delicious, and there was still plenty of juices to satisfy the most discerning prawn lover. (Note: the sauce is REALLY spicy, so not the best idea to try and use it as a salad dressing)

The char-grilled sirloin steak would have to be one of the highlights, and would definitely be one of the best pieces of meat I have had in London to date. Juicy, perfectly seasoned and cooked to order. At £10, this is unbelievable! The salad wasn't just a 'garnish' to make the plate look good, it was actually dressed, and the chips - made in-house - were absolutely more-ish! 

The Brixton Village Grill is definitely a place to visit, serving great food at value for your money. Check out Brixton Village in general, because it appears that there are plenty more quality restaurants to choose from.

Check out their website here

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Vinopolis new world wine tasting and dinner

One of the reasons I like Cantina Vinopolis is due to its decor, or maybe lack there of, as the atmosphere is purely derived from the massive exposed brick Victorian arches (used as storage facilities back in the day) within which the restaurant is situated. It is lavish.
Upon receiving an email from Vinopolis about a wine tasting night (Old and New world wine, tasting four wines), and a three course meal, for a mere £35, how could one say no!? 

The Phoenix - not so mythic

The Phoenix, a gastropub, located right off Kings Rd in a picturesque residential street, is one of the 28 pubs owned by Geronimo Inns (others including the Northcote, the Kings Head, The Prince Albert). Just like the company philosophy says, Geronimo invest in their pubs and tailor the interior/exterior to their locality, and the Phoenix is no exception. Walking into the pub one is immediately immersed in the wood, warm colours, leather couches and bright earthly paintings on the walls. Warmth and welcome oozes from the walls. The clientele, however, do not let you forget that you are in the middle of Chelsea, adding a glamorous element to the atmosphere.