Friday, January 30, 2009

Great Queen St

This is the sister restaurant to one of my favourite tables in London - The Anchor and Hope.

Everything is the same in terms of great bourgeois cooking and well chosen and resonably priced wines and beers.

Last night which was pretty cold I had a very light beetroot soup with sour cream and dill followed by a superb ox cheek stew with (real) chips followed by a sublime seville orange and almond tart served with a scoop of home made vanilla ice cream ! Outstanding !

The main difference with the Anchor is that you can book and of course the location is better if you work nearby or happen to be a Mason !

Great Queen Street on Urbanspoon

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Holy War Mac v PC

Thanks to James Naughton in todays Observer for reminding us of the great piece written by Umberto Echo in 1994 on Mac v PC .

Catch you later just off to Mass !

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Boca di Lupo , London

Ex Moro head Chef Jacob Kennedy has gone Pan Italian and is producing very well turned out Italian Regional classics (small and larger plates for most dishes) The menu describes each dish in English and the region it originates from.

The wine list is very well chosen with many of the great winemakers in Italy represented - however I was disapointed to see they had chosen Umberto Cesari's Sangiovesi di Romagna instead of his superb "Super Emiliano" - Liano a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignion.

I need to work my way through the menu but today I had Tuna Tartare which had capers and pine nuts in the dressing followed by a risotto of bone marrow , barolo and radicchio di Treviso. The Tuna was delicate and fresh and a good way to wake the taste buds. I liked the Risotto but I'm yet to have a one in London that is as good as the ones I make myself at home or reach the heights found in good restaurants of all classes in Italy. I suspect there was a lack of flavour in the stock and an element of pre cooked rice so it was not cooked and stirred for 15-20 minutes from scratch.

I finished with some excellent well kept Tallegio served with fennel ,grapes and rose hip honey.

My guest had a lovely proscuitto crudo of lamb and some scallops with rocket followed by Sanguinaccio - asweet paté of pig's blood chocolate with sourdough bread which was actually very interesting if somewhat rich.

We shared some Puntarelle with anchovy with our mains and they were as good as I have eaten in Rome.

As I said I look forward to working my way through the menu especially Cotechino with lentils in balsamic vinegar
& bitter clementine mostarda Romagna ,Boiled beef with potatoes & salsa verde and Rustic pork & foie gras sausage
with farro & porcini.


Bocca di Lupo on Urbanspoon