When entering Jubilee Market look up, that's where you'll find MEATmarket.

The writing is on the wall here, literally. 

Here's the big difference to MEATliquor, it's not table service, it's not really a restaurant, it is a fast food outlet with a counter.

Approach the counter and err... place your order (nicely).

When your name is called, go collect your food.

The food will be familiar to many, served on familiar trays in the familiar red and white wrapping. There's the famous Dead Hippie burger, so well described on the web already I wont, as well as the 'Double Bubble' and 'Black Palace' burgers. We're guessing the burger choice will evolve in time, the place has only been open around two weeks, but the classic cheeseburger is unavailable while the only difference between the Double Bubble and Black Palace is that one has minced white onions while the other has grilled white onions, so not large. The burger is of course it's usual messy and delicious self. Philly Cheesesteak is also an option.

There's fries, poppaz and corn puppies available as sides, an ice-cream sweet and bottomless soda. There's also milk shakes including the Beige which has a shot of Woodford Reserve in and is pretty damn good.  

This is a different format for the MEATliquor's food, an 'obvious' format for the type of food it is (everything can be purchased to take out also) and is a welcome addition to the market (no pun intended). It's also quite clever because it doesn't really compete with MEATliquor: there's a more limited menu (possibly too why the cheeseburger isn't there), there's no liquor of course, and the venue is amusing but certainly not cool. It means that MEATmarket is an ideal place to drop by and grab a burger if you are in the area but in itself, it is not really a destination. It therefore also means that despite this opening, MEATliquor will still have them queuing out the door on a Friday and Saturday night (and every other night probably).  

For those who love MEATliquor (and we include ourselves in that group), MEATmarket's opening will be welcomed as it makes their food significantly more accessible, and that has to be a good thing. 


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Keeping a food blog sees us more often than not try new places rather than returning to places where we have already been. Somewhere however that we have returned to again and again over the past year is Goodman, with our preferred branch being the City outlet. We pretty much love everything about Goodman: the steaks are we think the best in London, the cooking spot on and the front of house team led by @winoofmaddox first class.

Goodman is also where we go when we want a great burger and realising we hadn't discussed the Goodman burger on the blog yet, we felt it was time that we did. What makes the Goodman burger special is the quality of the burger. Today for example, we ordered a burger and an O'Shea's bone in ribeye steak. Tasting the burger alongside the ribeye steak, it is immediately evident that the burger has as much flavour as the steak. The extras, cheese, bacon and the usual condiments can all elevate it further if desired, but the burger, in and of itself, is a masterpiece bursting with taste that easily stands alone. 

Rather kindly, head chef Olly shared the Goodman secret. Doing a huge turnover in steaks, they have the capacity to make the burgers from the offcuts of the ribeye, sirloin and fillet steaks that they sell in the restaurant while also mixing up USDA with UK and Irish cuts. It's no wonder then that the burgers have as much taste as the steaks, they're effectively the same thing. Remember too, this beef has been aged for a minimum of 28 days, how many other burgers can claim that? Seasoning for the burgers is provided by fish sauce and soy rather than salt providing textural improvements, stopping the meat from clumping.

The result is an outstanding burger, and at £14, not a budget buster. As some know, one half of the CC team has been out of action for a few weeks and today was our first return to restaurants. We were unanimous in choosing Goodman as our return meal, that's how much we love it there.

Bodean's describes itself as a 'BBQ Smoke House' and styles itself on the American sports bar model with ESPN playing on the TV and a 'Game Day Special' on the menu. Now, BBQ is always something that will wind up aficionados (of which I am not one) and a little bit of on-line research informs me that there are four principal styles of BBQ:

• Memphis - specialising in 'wet' and 'dry' ribs and barbecue sandwiches (wet ribs are brushed with sauce before and after cooking, dry ribs are seasoned with a dry rub)
• Carolinas - pork: pulled shredded or chopped (though North and South Carolina do things differently - of course)
• Kansas City - the signature ingredient here is the sauce, thick and sweet, served at the table with dry rubbed ribs
• Texas - of which there are four kinds: North, East, South and West; I'll leave it there.

Memphis and Carolina are the oldest styles while Kansas City and Texas are a later evolution and hence not considered 'real barbecue' by those from the deep south. Thanks Wiki. Bodean's is of the Kansas City model but such subtleties will be lost on most UK punters (myself included till 5 mins ago) who just want ribs to gnaw on that have a great smoky taste.

There are now four branches of Bodean's (Tower Hill, Soho, Clapham, Fulham) and they are popular places indeed - on a prior visit to the Tower Hill branch as a walk-in one mid week evening, there was a half hour wait for a table as the place was full, including the bar area. Bookings can be made however at Bodean's so this fate can be avoided with a bit of planning.

On the menu is everything you would expect from a BBQ house including ribs (baby back, spare ribs, Jacob's ladder beef ribs), BBQ chicken, and pulled pork which are all cooked in their 'oak burning smoke pit'. There's a bunch of other stuff too including burgers (even a veggie burger!), hot dogs and chargrilled steaks. The result is that Bodean's has a very strong sense of identity and you probably know what you're going to have before you even go.

Another solo adventure today, I am tempted by the Game Day Special (every day is a game day at Bodean's) which is Buffalo Wings served with Full Rack of Baby Back Ribs, Fries, Coleslaw and a beer for £15 which has to be considered great value. However, in the interests of the blog, I want to try as much as I can. Therefore...

A half dozen Buffalo Chicken WIngs to start. More choices, they're served with the following sauce options: Mild/BBQ/Hot/Diablo/BBQ Bourbon. I'm told BBQ Bourbon is the most popular and I opt for that. Oh, that's another thing, they have an amazing range of Bourbons available here. Back to the wings. They arrive smothered in sauce and eating them is a messy affair. Very messy, but they are delicious, the BBQ Bourbon sauce excellent and this is no skimpy portion, these are full wings and half a dozen leaves me quite full up, but there is still a lot of food to come... 

For the main, to allow me to taste as much of their food as possible, I chose a combo meal: 1/4 chicken, 1/2 Ribs and Pulled Pork. This comes with fries and 'slaw (£16.45). When it arrives, it's like, wow, this is one massive plate of food; I feel like Adam Richman. Let's work left to right. First, the pulled pork. I liked this and it was my favourite part of the plate. There's a variety of sauces at the table (Kansas City BBQ remember?) and these include Bodean's own Hot Chipotle BBQ, Smocked Hickory BBQ, an unlabelled Carolina Sauce (which they recommend for the pull) and Cholula Hot Sauce so you can pretty much make up the taste that you want. The Carolina Sauce which has a touch of acidity does indeed work well with the pulled pork which is nicely smoked and suitably tender. The smoke has penetrated throughout the meats here today and the BBQ tag seems fully justified.

The ribs were perhaps the disappointment here and this accords with my previous experience at Bodean's (so maybe that's how they are supposed to be, or how they want them), but my observation is that the meat in no way falls off the bone so you'll be working these ribs hard with your teeth to pull off the meat. Kansas City style, you're left to apply the source you want to the ribs. I opted for the Smoked Hickory which was a very sweet smoky hickory and went well with the ribs. The chicken was good even though I felt that I had had enough chicken by then. Enriched by the smoke but the inside keeping a natural juiciness, if you want BBQ chicken with chips, you could do a lot worse than Bodean's. Fries were only okay but that didn't matter as I was full well before the plate was finished.

When you feel like some BBQ and it's raining outside (Summer and Bank Holidays), Bodean's is a pretty good choice. Personally, I don't think the food is as good as MEATliquor which has that 'god I could eat this every day' effect on us, but it is nevertheless enjoyable and from time to time, when the mood takes me, I'd be more than happy to return. At the same time, it doesn't break the bank so overall, it makes for happy bank holiday BBQ eating.


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Marco Pierre White Steak and Alehouse is one of many restaurants that carry the MPW name though web based research tells me that Mr White is in fact a co-owner rather than merely a consultant, or it being a franchise outlet. As a chef, MPW hung up his aprons in 1999 and today he comes across as more of a brand manager than anything else, but given his seeming willingness to attach his name to anything that carries a fat pay-check, what exactly are his values? Put another way, is this restaurant simply a cynical attempt to cash in on his name with diners or does he care about the food and the customer experience?

There are no blog posts for MPW Steak & Alehouse as recorded by Urbanspoon but there is a review by Jay Rayner from around the time it opened in 2009: Rayner absolutely hated it.  Almost three years to the day since he wrote that review, much that Rayner hated about the place remains intact from the picture of a youthful Marco on the back of the menu to the kipper & whisky pate, still on the menu. 

I didn't hate it like Rayner did, rather, I found some things to be rather good and some things to be terrible; where to start? 

First off, I should mention that this is the City branch of his steakhouse, there's a King's Road branch too the website informs me. Despite being in the City however, it unusually opens for dinner on Saturdays and Sundays which is a plus and my visit was a walk in early and solo Saturday dinner. 

What initially annoyed me is that the menu on the wall outside showed a 3 course fixed price menu (£21.50) which said was available (amongst other times) between 5:30 - 7pm, the time of my visit. I was resolved to have this but when given the menus (1x food, 1 x wine, 1x cocktail) at my table, the fixed price menu didn't seem available resulting in me ordering from the a la carte. I checked the outside board again on leaving the restaurant and only then read at the bottom that this menu was available 'on request' which seemed a little cynical on their part. 

I liked the greeting on the door which was warm and friendly and most of the staff also seemed that way. I liked the fact that my glass of tap water was topped up every time it got low but less good, when I asked if the steaks were 'aged', the waitress told me that 'no, they are delivered fresh every day'. The website later informs me they are 21 days aged. Partial redemption however, she did know that they are supplied by Donald Russell butchers which cheered me up a little. Another negative, the music was excessively loud and was a 60s/70s soft rock compilation which was less appealing.

The website also informs me of a 'menu written by Marco' but most of the offerings are so standard it could be written by a first term culinary school student: starters include classic prawn cocktail, potted shrimps, steak tartare, ham and piccalili, asparagus and hollandaise, chicken liver pate, smoked salmon etc. There's little imagination. No sign of a Bernard Matthews turkey on the menu either; shame.

The most adventurous starter of the menu, mackerel and whisky, was so detested by Jay Rayner I simply have to avoid it, but in doing so, am forced into the realms of the also rans; I chose the prawn cocktail. Prices seem expensive with starters in the £9 - £16 range, the prawn cocktail is priced at £12.50.

It was actually quite good however. First off, they avoided drenching it in sauce so that other components could be tasted, some coriander with the lettuce provided a little kick while the prawns were sufficiently meaty king prawns that they needed to be sliced to fit in the glass. I was heartened by this.

For the main, it was a medium rare rib-eye, bearnaise sauce and a side of triple cooked chips.The steak was quite good, had flavour and was cooked as medium rare should be; I'm pretty pleased with it. The triple cooked chips were also good. These were chunky chips, not skinny fries and here, the triple cooked aspect delivered on the promise, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. I've been losing my faith in triple cooked chips recently but this has gone some way to restoring it. Finally, the bearnaise sauce: sadly, this was one of the most bland bearnaise sauces I have ever tasted, worse than bland it was horrible, with only a sickly butter taste coming though.

Desserts showed the same lack of imagination as the starters, though they could kindly be called British classics:sticky toffee pudding, Eton mess, chocolate fudge cake. I opted for the warm rice pudding. If generous, I'd say it was okay, slightly too gummy, saved by the strawberries. At £7.50, it doesn't seem quite good enough.

Hits and misses then. Importantly, the main element of the meal for a steak house, the steak and the chips, were both pretty good. The starter too was okay but against a backdrop of predictable (and somewhat dull) options. Desserts also predictable and somewhat dull but thereby making it hard for them to go too far wrong even if they almost did. The bearnaise sauce was simply awful. Service was friendly and the food arrived quickly. 

Food cost for the three courses was £48 before service, so £54 with, broadly a fair price overall. Doing a quick price comparison on one thing that is as like for like that you get on the menus, Goodman charge £28 for a 250g fillet steak, Hawksmoor £32 for 300g steak while at MPW Steak & Alehouse, an 10oz fillet (284g) is £35. That puts MPW about 15% more expensive than its two key rivals but other cuts could be more in line. 

My preconceptions of the restaurant ahead of eating there was that it would be cynically expensive and somewhat low quality. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised, though that doesn't extend far enough to displace Goodman as my favourite steakhouse in the City where everything is spot on every time and they know exactly how many days aged their beef is. MPW does however open on weekends whereas Goodman and Hawksmoor (Guildhall) do not which today was important.



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There are currently three venues in the mini group of Draft Houses but from what we have seen, it's the one on Tower Bridge Road that gets most of the attention, indeed, even Jay Rayner has reviewed it for the Guardian. We've heard good things and have been meaning to go there for a little while but procrastination always interfered; I finally got round to arranging to meet a friend there for an early dinner.

The Draft House itself is not only a 'proper pub', but the range of beers on sale is one of the most impressive I've seen a pub carry and that's to be applauded. The dining area itself is through the bar and represents a change of style as the normal pub surrounds give way to bright green diner style booths; it's a momentary shock to the senses but once we had overcome the dazzle of bright green leather, we found it a reasonably playful affair.

The menu too fits in with the decor with a bias toward an Americana meat-fest. Following on the heels of the earlier-in-the-week expedition to Mayfair's The Punchbowl which sought, but ultimately failed to deliver a step up from the usual pub fare, the somewhat simpler menu here offered reassurance that good pub food would be what you would get.

Between the two of us we decided to share three starter plates that on the menu are billed as such (sharing plates). First up, 'foot long pork scratchings'. They arrive at the table like bread-sticks but are old style pork scratchings (not the new style lighter than air pork crackling that is served as a pre meal snack at places like Pollen Street Social and Tuddenham Mill); here, the crunch penetrates your very skull. Very salty, a lot of fun and just about there on taste, the silliness of foot long scratchings at least puts a smile on your face to start the meal.

We also share a half rack of BBQ baby back ribs which arrives smothered in a dark BBQ sauce. The ribs are pretty good, the meat falling easily off the bone. We both agree however that it is the sauce that's doing the heavy lifting on flavour here rather than the meat itself though fortunately, we both like the sauce and think this is a pretty good plate even if a little messy (a finger bowl is provided, but only one, despite being ordered as a sharing plate).

Finally on the starter sharing plates, it was 'Southern fried wingettes'. Wingettes are in fact just regular wings with the wingette tag a mystery to all including staff. These ultimately failed for us, the southern fried coating adding a little crunch but little flavour and seeming a poor relation to more complete and more complex fried chicken served up elsewhere. 

Both my friend and I had pretty much made up our minds before even entering the venue that we would have the burgers for the main as The Draft House has developed a bit of a reputation for their offering. I chose the 'Yolk' which is an 8oz burger with fried egg and hollandaise and my friend opted for the 'Smoke', adding smoked chipotle mayo, house smoked cheddar and house cured bacon to the burger. Sides are elected separately and for the potato addition, we sampled both the skin on fries, and the twice cooked chips.

Sadly this was not so good. On ordering, we weren't asked how we wanted the burgers cooked, and when they arrived, mine was very well done. The char on the outside had transitioned to crispy and with everything so well cooked, there was no natural juice left in the burger such that eating it increasingly became a chore. The bun too had been overly toasted rendering it tough rather than yielding. The egg and hollandaise provided some relief but the burger itself was too dry for redemption. The twice cooked chips meanwhile had been undercooked leaving neither the outside very crispy or the inside that fluffy, bringing only to mind raw potato; less than a handful were eaten. The Smoke burger was a little better cooked but the cheese was plastic-like sitting on top of the burger rather than melting in to it.  

The food is not that expensive here but with the quality of burgers in the capital moving ever higher (and having heard good things about The Draft House) this was undoubtedly a disappointment. As we were finishing our mains, the dining area began to fill resulting in us being seemingly 'forgotten' and even if we had wanted a dessert, the extensive wait at the table saw us grow increasingly frustrated and order only our bill when we finally got someone's attention.

Other people have we know fared better when it comes to their meal here and I can easily see that with only a few small changes, this could indeed be so much better; maybe it's just a consistency problem but you can't cook a burger this much and expect it to be good. Given the proximity of Goodman in the City where truly great burgers are served, and places like MEATliquor where both wings and burgers are a triumph, The Draft House fell short of the mark. We wanted to love it, for great burgers on our doorstep would be a god-send, but sadly we didn't.


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The Punchbowl is a pub-restaurant just off Berkeley Square and is therefore in competition with other local boozer cum eateries The Guinea Grill and The Only Running Footman. However, The Punchbowl has an ace up its sleeve in the form of its famous owner, Guy Ritchie, which in turn has seen Hollywood's finest stroll through its doors, given rise to tales of lock-ins and celebrity parties and resulted in more than a few celebrity spotters and paps hanging out there hoping for a glimpse.

I have to confess, I wouldn't in fact recognise Guy Ritchie even if he approached our table in person and reeled off the day's special. With Hollywood somewhat lost on me, the pub nevertheless claims that it is 'renowned for serving superb British fusion cuisine sourced from the freshest ingredients'. More like it, that does it for me more than the prospect of a glimpse of Jude Law; with one half of the CC missing, a lunch there with a friend was duly booked.

The final mention of this celebrity thing: it has made the Punchbowl somewhat sensitive to cameras and so not wishing to ruin anybody's day, we didn't take the normal hardware with us, hence the pictures are not to the usual standard. Apologies to all.

Inside The Punchbowl, it remains a proper pub and feels like a proper pub. It serves proper beer, has wooden floors, old wood tables and wooden pub chairs. The décor on the walls has kept its heritage and eschewed modern interpretations or glitz, all of which I certainly appreciate. The restaurant part occupies the back half of the venue.

The menu is what you might term 'pub plus' with a few semi-adventurous dishes and lots of reliables also: the main courses include fish and chips, Sheperd's pie and sausage and mash. There's a choice of nine starters including a soup of the day, steak tartar and a ham hock terrine amongst others. My friend played it straight down the line with the Wild Scottish Smoked Salmon while I chose the Confit pork belly 'Porchetta', granny smith puree. The pork was thinly sliced and reminded a little too much of sliced pork you might buy from a supermarket to use as a sandwich filling. I always worry too about ordering pork starters for fear of becoming full up before the main course but here, the wafer thinness seemed in fact a little too insubstantial. To be fair, the pork flavours and the apple came through giving a comfort feel but confit pork belly should be a naughty indulgence but it just didn't feel like it here.

The mains saw another down the line steak sandwich that my friend thought good, but even visibly, there was far too much mustard on it (turning the inside bright yellow) but otherwise it was enjoyed. My main was the 'day boat market fish of the day', today being Gurnard, a fish that the Independent called 'an ugly fish, a tasty dish'. Sadly today it wasn't so tasty. Served with a Coley spiced mousse on lentils, nothing really worked here, the fish was over cooked, the mousse was apathetic and the lentils seemed to make eating the dried out dish yet more difficult. Overall, a sad miss.

On desserts, a crumble and something else was off the menu but there was an addition of a chocolate mousse which was marketed as the 'lightest you will ever eat'. It wasn't, but it was okay, but it was never more than a chocolate mousse.

Perhaps not enough dishes tried to really see what they can do but the feeling is that the pub classics are probably okay but they struggled when taking it up a gear. The problem is that in a Mayfair pub, this still costs, working out at about £40 a head with just one drink (£4.40 a pint) and service. Of course, the new neighbours in the hood are Burger & Lobster where £20 buys you an incredible lobster lunch while a short hop away at Alyn Williams at The Westbury, the set lunch will cost you just £24 for near on perfect cooking. Overall, I also enjoyed my meal at Guinea Grill and The Only Running Footman more. 

The Punchbowl is however almost always busy, and I once visited on a day that was so busy that arriving customers were being turned away from the door, the entire pub being entirely full. They're clearly doing something right and they have a loyal following. For this blogger on this day however, as Siskel and Ebert might have signalled, it was two thumbs down.


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Moo with Tom Cruise

Simon Rogan puts the Rogan in Roganic. The joke aside, that might mean something to you or it might not; for us, as we've said a number a times already on this blog, it means a lot since we think that Simon Rogan is the most talented chef in the UK today. For sure, we are huge fans of former Head Chef Ben Spalding (see our March 2012 post here), but following Ben's departure, Simon has spent more time in London in the Roganic kitchen culminating most recently in a whole new menu. We needed no further incentive to re-visit Roganic despite having been there just over a month ago.

While Roganic has always been termed the sister restaurant to the award winning L'enclume, Simon's redevelopment of the Roganic menu takes the restaurant just that little bit closer to it and since L'enclume is our favourite restaurant in the UK, there should be little surprise on anyone's part that we found the new menu at Roganic exceptional. It is worth noting too, and we've said it before in our recent L'enclume post, that Simon has increasingly built a highly accomplished team around him that includes Roux Scholars Mark Birchall and Dan Cox. In turn, this means that there's a deep talent pool to draw on for L'enclume and Roganic maintaining the standard for both restaurants at all time.

Foodwise at Roganic, much is familiar to the returning diner: there's a couple of little amuses including a brilliant smoked pork and eel croquette, and first class breads which have been changed now to include onion & thyme and wholemeal & ale alongside the long standing favourite pumpernickel, while the butter, a product of Cartmel, is exclusive to Rogan's restaurants. It's bread that you really could enjoy all day but with the full tasting menu to follow, it didn't seem wise to fill up too early. There's milkshake and a doughnut at the end too. 

In between though, the menu is signature Rogan: well known and familiar ingredients perfectly done (there's five flavoured monkfish, lobster, lamb), the farmed and the foraged (meadowsweet, coastal herbs, hedge garlic, sweet cicely) and the funky (a golden egg filled with chicken sauce, beef tongue in coal oil, dehydrated sponge). Most importantly though, non of it is simply for show, or indeed showing off, it all works on pretty much every level: the technique, the flavours and the sheer joy of the meal. Our meal at Roganic was today, as we have found all of Simon Rogan's food to be, faultless.    

The pictures below tell the story.

When we finished our meal, we were in agreement: Roganic is the most exciting restaurant in London currently in our view and it's the best restaurant in London currently. For those unable (or unwilling) to make the journey to Cumbria to eat at L'enclume, Roganic was always the next best thing but following the new menu, it's now closer than ever. Perfect.


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CC post Roganic March 2012

CC post L'enclume  

Our meal at Tom Aikens just didn't work for us which was a disappointment for a number of reasons: first, a lot of thought has gone in to all aspects of the meal by Aikens and his team; second, it is a very talented kitchen clearly; third, the sheer amount of hard work that goes in to the meal is simply astonishing; and fourth, the price, given all of the above, is actually quite reasonable. But for all of that, the plates mostly didn't work for us such that overall, we didn't really enjoy the meal.

The restaurant, as is now well publicised, has stripped back to the wood no table cloths thing, walls adorned with food quotes etc. Tom Aikens' web site quotes the designer as saying that the dining room is 'inviting and welcoming and not over powering or over-designed ... a space that celebrates the simplicity of good ingredients'. Can an environment so meticulously planned really claim to avoid 'over-design'? In our view, it fails on all fronts. 

On the night we were there the lights were dimmed so low you could hardly see the place anyhow: it failed the informality test because hushed tones still seemed the most appropriate thing. Also, of all the things the food is, simple isn't one of them. We would go so far as to argue that the dining room design is actually incongruent with the food, making it all seem even a little cynical perhaps. 

Waiters appear caught in the middle of the simple dining room/complex food format leaving them unsure of how to be and act. The restaurant has resisted going 'all-in informal' with waiters sporting rolled up sleeves and tattoos, but clearly eschews the traditional Michelin waiter look: the result is waiters who don sports jackets, a middle ground that seems to us the worst of all worlds. 

First out on the food front was a Duck cassonade with cep powder amuse which was excellent in every way. Then the canapes appeared; for a restaurant that has put so much thought into so many things, this was simply odd. Gourmet Traveller in her Tom Aikens post observed that serving five individual but different canapés to a table of two results in obvious problems of division; she posed the question 'how many canapés would a group of three receive I wonder?' Well, we were a group of three and we are therefore in a position to answer: also five! Five canapés between three people, each different, that's just poor.

The bread posed similar issues, a basket containing one of each delivered to the table. Now, we have to say that the bread is truly excellent, the butters (salted, cep or bacon) also excellent. This is one of the few places that could justify a service charge for the bread. But with three people and one of each, again, division presents problems, The bacon and onion brioche is most in demand and fortunately we know each other well enough to split it three ways, but really. We similarly divide some other rolls. Maybe it's a cost thing but the canapés and the bread seem suited to serve the kitchen's purpose (of highlight of expression) and not the diners' enjoyment.

On the menu, we have chosen the 6 course tasting menu at £55 and they kindly let us make some substitutions as there are some dishes we really want to try. Given the fact that £9 of the cost will be swallowed by VAT, the price seems very fair indeed. Looking at the main course where individual prices are around the £24 mark, the tasting menu seems to us by far the best value. There is also an 8 course tasting menu priced at £75.

The starter of raw turnip salad and chestnuts sees the chestnuts come in a number of presentations (varieties being a theme of the meal), though they are mostly hidden in the picture below. Does the acidity of the salad dressing combine so well with the sweet rich chestnut dumplings? We're not so sure and for us, it's not a dish to thrill, but it's only the start. This starter when purchased a la carte (possibly with a different portion size) is priced at £12.

It's the big guns next however, Roast Foie Gras, thyme sabayon, smoked onions (alc menu price £18.50). A natural dish to the extent that force feeding geese is natural I guess, and already we might suggest that any comparisons with Noma should stop here. This feels like two starters, one of foie gras with a second of 'textures of onion'. There's at least six onion presentations on the plate and in our view it competes with the foie gras to lay claim to the dish; competition on a plate rarely makes for satisfaction. 

Pigeon Consommé, truffle custard, vegetable granules is next, a dish we asked if we could try. The plate arrives at the table with the consommé yet to be poured and as can be seen below, it's a work of art. Indeed, we assume that the plate layout is deliberately set to make it resemble an artist's palate. It is beautiful and there are eleven separate components on the plate already: as we have already said, there is huge amount of talent and hard work in every dish. The pigeon breast is perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked. The consommé is poured at the table.

The effect of the consommé is to mix up all the components of the dish as they each now run into each other (see second picture). It's certainly interesting. One problem however, this is all served on a plate, and although you get a knife, fork and spoon, a flat plate even with a small rim makes it impossible to spoon up the consommé allowing you to eat only what you can mop up with the solids. The finished plate sees much of the consommé sadly returned to the kitchen. Again, the ideas behind it and the visual impact are stunning but it is not the best way to serve it in our view if the principal purpose is to fully enjoy the food beyond the spectacle.

Chorizo Baked Cod, 24 hour squid, cod soup. This just didn't work for us at all. Again, too much going on. A milk skin at the bottom of the plate drowned in the cod soup, while the 24 hour squid which is indistinct on such a busy plate. Strangely, the chorizo also lacked real influence.

The final main: Romney lamb, ewe's cheese, anchovy, confit garlic. The anchovies and green olive were the overpowering flavours here with the lamb too mild to shine. The lamb, while perfectly pink inside was an less appealing grey on the outside while the anchovy fritter was too greasy (as have been all the fried elements of the meal). Nor had the harshness of the garlic been fully removed leaving an excessive garlic after taste long after the plates had left the table.  

We're no strangers to vegetables and the like in desserts, and if the dessert had have tightly embraced the description, 'candied beetroot' we might not have come away thinking this is one of the least pleasant desserts we've eaten since starting the blog. Key to the misery here was a whole baby beetroot on the plate that was heavily pickled and simply cut in half. Biting into this astringently pickled beetroot was deeply unpleasant at this point of the meal. 

The beetroot was the last of the menu courses and the petits fours are a chocolate assortment presented in an old style tin. The chocolate is absolutely delightful and mercifully takes the taste of the beetroot away. Once again, looking round the room, as a table of three we get the same box as a table for two. That fact aside, this is a wonderful chocolate box assortment to end the meal. 

This is an extremely clever meal, but mostly the cleverness seems to get in the way of the enjoyment. The breads were superb, the chocolates delightful, the duck cassonade excellent. Sadly, it was the menu courses that disappointed. Too often too busy such that the 'simplicity of good ingredients' is replaced by confusion and competition on the plate.

With the amuse, the canapés, the bread, and the excellent chocolate box at the end, it is, by some strange contradiction good value for a meal that we didn't really enjoy, though gin and tonics before the meal at £12.50 each seem less good value; we didn't view the wine list though others report it to be reasonably priced.

Tom Aikens has without doubt a great deal of talent and with the restaurant in its new guise, he's clearly putting 110% into delivering unique and creative food. However, for the three of us around the table that night, we were in agreement: the balances of the dishes didn't work for us, most plates were overly fussy and at the end of the day, failed to deliver joy which should surely be the meal's ultimate goal.  


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Our criteria for today's lunch was as follows: first, we wanted really good food (and we wanted that 'guaranteed'); second, we wanted a place that would be easy on our wallets too; third, we didn't want anywhere too dressy but was still classy. There's not too many places that can tick all those boxes but the name that really sprang to mind was Bistrot Bruno Loubet.

When we first ate at BBL back in March 2011 we loved it. In the blog post of that visit we described the food as 'exceptional', the place as having 'an easy charm' and ourselves as 'smitten'. Since then, we have got to know Bruno Loubet and his food much more and our respect and appreciation for what he does has only grown. 

Don't be fooled by the fact that Bruno has opted for a Bistrot format, he is a formidable cooking talent (he was the first Head Chef at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons), and his talent and experience comes through in every dish. With three people around the table today, we got to see a number of these, though still less than half of what's on offer for it is a comprehensive menu but nowhere does it compromise quality. 

The bouillabaisse for example was exceptional: vibrant to look at, good variety in the dish, all cooked to perfection. Michelin starred Arbutus just the other week served up a disgracefully bland (and more expensive) version highlighting that what you get at BBL is exceptional cooking. The rolled rabbit saddle meanwhile was skilfully prepared with the kidney in the middle perfectly pink. 

But France isn't the only area where he takes inspiration from and the Braised beef Indochine with a mango and herb salad offered up an unusual dish for a bistro perhaps, but no less welcome for that and maybe carries influences from his time spent in Australia. The braised beef cheek was again triumph of texture and flavour and the picture below conveys just how fantastic the sauce was, all paired with the wonderful freshness of the mango, as well as coriander and chilli.

Choosing desserts is always difficult at BBL for they are all simply fantastic. His apple tart we enjoyed on a previous occasion (picture shown) so we chose three other desserts, each of which was first class. The olive oil and star anis pannacotta had the perfect wobbly texture and came with the most delicious strawberries. The chocolate delice and mille feuilles of rhubarb were similarly greatly enjoyed. 

Service was professional but also appropriately friendly given the type of restaurant this is. Wines are excellent and like the food menu, prices are attractive.

Bruno Loubet's food is very good indeed and we love the Bistrot. Prices are excellent: starters £7 - £8.50, mains £16.50 - £20, desserts £6.50, and portion sizes will leave you very full indeed (they encourage doggie-bags too for what you can't eat). The dishes are attractive without being over elaborate but the flavours are never less than 100% and the cooking is, as noted a number of times already, always spot on. When we want good honest food 'guaranteed', we can think of no better choice than Bistrot Bruno Loubet; we were smitten all over again.


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related posts

Bistrot Bruno Loubet website

Bruno Loubet on Twitter

Critical Couple on Bistrot Bruno Loubet March 2011
  

It's less than a year since Jose and Pizarro opened but both are already stars of London's food scene and together with Zucca, these neighbourhood restaurants have made Bermondsey a food destination. If however you are lucky enough to live near by, each is a constant temptation, though in recent weeks, things have got even better. Jose is now open for breakfast on Saturday from 10am and Pizarro is open on a Sunday for brunch from 10am. We wandered down to Bermondsey Street last Sunday to check it out.

Pizarro as most will know is a larger restaurant than Jose, takes bookings (though not for brunch) and serves larger plates allowing for a three course format if desired. For brunch, there's a choice of 'brunch specials' from the board supplemented by a separate main menu that in total gives a wide choice of food. Some old favourites like croquetas are not available till the full main menu appears later in the day, but being only the third Sunday of brunch service, we wouldn't be surprised if things evolve over the coming weeks.

The main brunch items have a lovely Sunday brunch feel to them and include scrambled eggs which can be served with Morcilla (black pudding), Manchego (cheese), or Chorizo/Jamon, while fried egg, chips and chorizo is a great thing to wake up to and be excited about on any Sunday morning. The star of the brunch menu however was the Iberico burger served with cheese, dressed lettuce and caramelised onions, all in a super light bun also with patatas fritatas (chips) and makes the visit to Pizarro worth it for that alone.

With four around the table, we were also able to receive more dishes from the main menu. A plate of Iberico ham of course, prawns and some fish dishes (cod and hake), pigs cheeks, and desserts to finish.      

Jose and Pizarro were both welcome additions to the Bermondsey area and that Pizarro is now doing a Sunday brunch offering makes us only more excited about having this restaurant as a neighbour. There's a wide choice of great food available and even the Sunday papers are offered if you want to kick back and catch up with the world. We're guessing the Sunday brunch crowd is mostly locals and it certainly adds a new dimension to the food offerings available before midday in SE1. But if getting out of bed on a Sunday is a struggle, don't fret, Pazarro is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner so if you haven't made the visit yet to Bermondsey to try Jose Pizarro's food, there is no excuse, and you really should, for it's worth the journey, regardless of where in London you live.

Jose Pizarro is helping us support The Manna Society, a local Bermondsey charity.


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related links

Jose Pizarro website

CC post on Jose