Gordon’s Wine Bar

Gordon’s Wine Bar is a London institution, but one that I have only belatedly discovered. My friend Sully has been singing its praises for years but it was not until last weekend that he finally convinced me to go there. You enter Gordon’s down a steep, rickety set of steps off Villiers street and arrive in a cramped cellar with vaulted ceilings. The brick walls are black from candle smoke and who knows what else and the ceilings are so low that you have to duck your head but it is all terribly atmospheric. Candles flicker on the rickety tables and couples canoodle in the corners. Faded newspaper front pages from Queen Elizabeth’s marriage and other major events are framed on the walls, although these must be relatively recent additions as Gordon’s claims to be the oldest wine bar in London with an establishment date of 1890.

Gordon’s adopts a dictatorial approach which I instantly loved. There is a sign behind the bar which reads “We don’t serve beer or spirits. We are a wine bar.” The wine list has a host of options by the glass or by the bottle and there are also serious barrels of port behind the bar. We chose a bottle of Chianti for around £18 and the cheese board was an incredibly barginous £11.25 for a choice of three cheeses, bread, pickled onions and cornichons. You just specify to the bar staff whether you want hard cheese, blue cheese, cheddar etc. There are also some hot food options and other goodies like pork pies and scotch eggs.

Cheese board at Gordon's

Gordon’s can get incredibly hot and packed and probably has serious health and safety issues with those low ceilings and lack of exits. It is great fun though and I can’t believe I waited so long to try it out.

Essentials

Details: Gordon’s Wine Bar, 47 Villiers Street, Charing Cross WC2 6NE (Ph 020 7930 1408) Tube: Embankment

Damage: Reasonable

7/10

Links

If you liked reading this you might be interested in my post on other great wine bars in London at Vinoteca and Brawn.

Maze

Chef’s tables are usually right next to the kitchen so you can see all the action. The chef’s table at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze takes things a step further and is slap, bang in the middle of the kitchen. It’s quite an experience and even involves getting behind the stoves at one stage of the meal. Let’s just say never has the phrase “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” rung more true and I was very happy to return to the relative comfort of the air conditioned alcove the chef’s table sits in.

Cannon of lamb

I was invited to Maze along with TehBus, Pritesh and Nick to experience a new degustation menu called the “unusual pairings menu”. Rather than a standard pairing of food with wine, each of the dishes was paired with an unusual drink from sake to bushfire ravaged chardonnay. It was especially interesting to eat at the “new” Maze in the week that former Maze head chef Jason Atherton opened his new restaurant, Pollen Street Social.

Smoked haddock and cauliflower velouté

At the chef’s table each dish was presented by the chef responsible for it and the sommelier also talked through each of the pairings. The menu started with an immensely savoury dish of a bowl of smoked haddock and potato which a creamy, thick cauliflower velouté is then poured over. This was paired with an English sparkling wine, an anachronism to some, but not to those in the know, the Nyetimber blanc de blancs 2001. Pritesh thought a sweeter sparkling was needed to cut through the savoury strength of the velouté but I was not as fussy as I tend to think a good sparkling wine goes with everything and enjoyed the citrus flavour.

Chef's plating up in the kitchen

Next was some Salcombe crab which was gussied up with spots of grapefruit fluid gel and a sweet mango purée. The crab was topped with a quenelle of wasabi ice cream with the chill of the icecream taking some of the heat out of the wasabi so the strong flavour did not overwhelm the delicate crab meat. Going along with the Japanese bent this was teamed with a sparkling sake which the sommelier told us was a very rare drink, particularly since the recent events in Japan. The Tarumoku Dewakazura NV Yamagata-Japan was over powering by itself but worked well as a palate cleanser post a bite of the crab meat.

"My" finished cod dish

Then came the moment I had been waiting for, the chance to get behind the stoves. We were all given aprons for a tour of the kitchen but in the end it was Pritesh and myself who were set to work “assisting” (otherwise known as hindering) in the preparation of our next dish. Our job was to pan fry the cod which was then served with a smear of field mushroom purée, chips made of salisfy, a tiger prawn and a foam of truffle cappuccino. Clearly cooking the cod was the easiest part of the whole dish but it was still quite an eye-opener to experience for 10 minutes the intense heat and pace of a commercial kitchen. It was literally almost impossible to stand anywhere near the ovens and hot plate so I rather timidly cooked my cod from as far away as possible.

I tried to quiz the chef for tips on how to tell the cod was done but he just shrugged and said: “I have cooked hundreds and hundreds of these, I just know.” So unfortunately I have no pearls of wisdom to impart. Back at the chef’s table and out of our aprons the cod was paired with a buttery 2008 chardonnay from Arthur’s Creek. The vineyard is in Victoria’s Yarra Valley area which was devastated by bush fires in 2008 and this wine was one of the few to remain unscathed. It was buttery and creamy even without its interesting history.

Cheese course

Following this was a cannon of lamb which came with a brilliant sausage like roll of braised lamb shoulder mixed with a turnip and pistachio purée. This was paired with Innis & Gunn oak aged beer from Scotland which was injected with single malt whiskey giving the beer a smokey after taste.

Next was the cheese course, which was well kept but I think I would probably skip it if I was ordering myself as there is no cheese trolley and you are not able to choose the cheese yourself like at other Michelin star restaurants. The sommelier paired the cheese selection with a Cline small berry, late harvest 2008 Mourvedre from California which had an intense berry flavour and added a sweet note to the savoury cheese.

The cline

The most impressive dish of the night though was the blackberry and apple crumble, a description which really undersells what arrived. This was unlike any crumble I have had before with a blackberry sorbet, apple mousse, streusel and blackberry and apple soup. It was a very playful and fun dessert which really delighted all of us. We finished off the food and drink pairing with a glass of sticky, a 2010 Moscato d'Asti Bricco Quaglia from La Spinetta in Italy.

Apple and blackberry crumble

Maze has found it's feet in the wake of Atherton's departure and I would highly recommend the chef's table experience for a special night. However I would probably opt for the standard tasting menu rather than the unusual pairings unless you are prepared for a slightly unusual sore head in the morning - mixing sparkling wine, beer, sake and wine in one meal is a little bit dangerous!

Essentials

Details: Maze, 10 - 13 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, W1K 6JP (Ph 020 7107 0000) Tube: Bond Street

Damage: Budget breaking. Six courses is £70 while including the drink pairings the cost is £125. However, on this occasion I did not pay.

8/10

Gourmet Chick was a guest of Maze

Links

If you liked reading this you might like my review of the nearby restaurant The Square or gastro pub The Punch Bowl.

Mangal Ocakbasi

The smell of char grilled meat wafts out the door of Mangal Ocakbasi in Stoke Newington. Once inside you are hit by a blast of heat from the huge grill where skewers of every type of meat sizzle away. Clouds of smoke billow up filling the room as flames lick the meat and straight away you know you have entered a carnivores paradise.

The grill at Mangal Ocakbasi

The restaurant is as no frills as the slightly grimy street it is situated in. Bare tables are closely packed together and service is pretty non-existent. While our meals came out quickly it took us about three separate requests to get a bill and our waiter seemed strangely preoccupied with arranging napkins and cutlery on tables rather than serving customers. Still, given the bargain basement prices I suppose you can hardly expect Michelin star worthy attention.

Mixed meze

We started with the mixed meze which was divided into four quarters of a creamy hommus, tangy cacik and two salata tomato based dips. It came with a huge basket of bread. Clearly though this was just a precursor for the meat that was to follow.

From there we had the cop sis lamb kebabs (£9.50) which had a great charred flavour but were a little tough. A much better option was the brilliant chicken in garlicky yoghurt, the yoghurtul tavuk sis (£10.50). The creamy yoghurt sauce was draped over chunks of moist chicken and soft bread which had been almost caramalised. Genius.

Yoghurtul tavuk sis

We finished with some baklava (£3) which had a nice soggy base and flaky top and provided a requisite sweet finish to our meal. Unfortunately our accompanying mint tea was a peppermint tea bag rather than the fresh mint I was hoping for, but at £15 a head for three courses, a glass of wine and tea it would feel churlish to complain to much. For an even cheaper meal, Mangal Ocakbasi also does BYO drinks at no corkage charge.

Baklava

Mangal Ocakbasi is a good cheap option for grilled meat, although don't go with high expectations of the service or any additional frills.

Essentials

Details: Mangal Ocakbasi, 10 Arcola Street, Stoke Newington, E8 2DJ (Ph: 020 7275 8981)

Damage: Such a bargain my mother would approve

6/10

Links

If you liked reading this you might be interested in my reviews of other Turkish restaurants in London, Gallipoli and Kazan.

How to make a moqueca and Cook in Rio cooking class

On my holiday in Brazil, which I know you are all thoroughly sick of hearing about, I became completely obsessed with moquecas, the amazing Brazilian seafood and coconut stew. I tasted some excellent moqueca's in Bahia at Paraiso Tropical and Panela de Barro, however it was in Rio that I learnt how to make one.

Curing the fish

MTV boyfriend and I spent an afternoon of our holiday at the Cook in Rio cooking class. We were the only students so we got lots of personal attention from the hilarious Simone who runs the classes and learnt a great moqueca recipe along with some other traditional Brazilian dishes. Most importantly we discovered the secret to a Brazilian caprihini (it is all in how you slice the lime). The class was not as organised as some other classes I have been to, and it would have been nice to get copies of the recipes on the day, but it was lots of fun and highly alcoholic which is always a plus.

Preparing the onions and peppers

I thought I would share my take on the moqueca we made. This recipe may sound exotic but it is actually quite a simple seafood stew. Most of the ingredients are pretty easy to come by, with the exception of palm oil for which you can substitute olive oil if required. The trick is to cure the fish before cooking in the mixture of lime and seasoning which will add a lovely zesty tang to the dish.

Cooking the onions and peppers

Ingredients

2 limes

2 tsps cumin

2 onions, sliced into rings

1 yellow pepper, sliced thinly

1 red pepper, sliced thinly

2 tbsp palm oil

200ml coconut milk

Salt and pepper

600g firm white fish such as cod.

150g prawns, shelled

Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

The finished moqueca

1. Mix together juice from the limes, salt and pepper and cumin and pour it over the fish. Leave to marinade for about 10 mins.

2. Heat a heavy based pan or wok over a low heat, add the palm oil and then the sliced onion and peppers. Cook for about 10 mins or until the onion starts to brown and soften.

3. Add the coconut milk, fish and prawns. Bring soup to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 15 mins.

4. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add a squeeze more lime here if you want. Garnish with coriander

Serve with rice or crusty bread. Serves four.

Essentials

Detail: Cook in Rio, Rua Ronald Carvalho 154, Suite 7, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Ph +55 (21) 8761 3653)

Damage: Reasonable, $75 a person

7/10

Links

If you liked reading this you might be interested in my tips on where to eat in Rio or for another cooking class experience while travelling this is my review of an Umbrian cooking school.

Fernandez & LeLuu breakfast club with Jordans Cereal

I've succumbed a little to the supper club fever and headed along to a few, but friends of mine who are expert supper club diners and regularly eat in clandestine living rooms swear by Fernandez & Leluu. Their recommendations meant I was delighted to get an invitation from Jordans Cereal to attend not a supper club, but a breakfast club at Fernandez & Leluu's last week.

Jordans Creations Oat Granola

The supper club is in a great, airy apartment in East London looking out onto a small courtyard. Bric a brac lines the walls and a huge, long table was set with gorgeous mis-matched china for us to eat at. Despite claiming she was not really a morning person, Leluu plied us with glasses of prosecco and then unveiled homemade quiches, cheesy bacon scrolls and the creamiest, fluffiest scrambled eggs. If that wasn't enough she had also made muffins and a vibrant, fresh lobster salad laced with pomegranates and a sweet passionfruit dressing. The spread certainly inspired me to go back and try the real deal in the evening.

Home made quiche and croissants

However, there was no such thing as a free meal, or a free breakfast in this case, so we were put to work as part of a competition thinking of new flavours for Jordans New Creations Oat Granola. The granola uses an oaty base sweetened only with honey (just how I make my own granola) and contains absolutely nothing artificial which is always good. We tried out the two existing flavours, Juicy Cranberry & Golden Honey and Bake Apple & a Hint of Cinnamon Creations, before setting about concocting a third.

Scrambled eggs

There were lots of granola goodies to test out and we had fun experimenting with chocolate, coconut and other slightly more whacky combinations. When I thought about what I like to eat for breakfast though it was more traditional styles of granola that came to mind, with lots of fruit, nuts and seeds to add goodness and texture. For want of a better title I am going to call it Summer Berries & Crunchy Nuts.

May's tasting plate for the granola

My suggested granola mix for Jordan's is oats toasted with honey for sweetness, a few sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds for some goodness and then the stars of the show the two key ingredients. These are berries and nuts; a mix of almonds, brazil nuts and hazelnuts and some dried strawberries, cranberries and blackcurrants to add some fruity punch. My dream mix would then be topped with a handful of fresh berries as well to really kick off the day in style.

Fingers crossed Bill Jordan likes my idea and it comes to a granola box near you soon.

My granola

Any other granola or muesli makers out there with preferred flavour combinations?

Gourmet Chick was a guest of Jordans.

Essentials

Details: Fernandez & LeLuu's Supper Club, East London

Damage: Ordinarily it is suggested guests pay £35 a head, however there was no charge for the one-off Breakfast Club.

7/10

Links

If you liked reading this you might be interested in some other breakfast recipes for banana and ricotta hotcakes and French toast with balsamic strawberries.

Murakami Kinoshita at The Loft Project

What I am about to write is going to really annoy you. I am about to tell you that I ate one of the best meals I have had this year at The Loft Project in Hackney courtesy of Murakami Kinoshita and Nuno Mendes. The really annoying part is that you can't experience this meal yourself as Kinoshita was only at The Loft Project for two days and is now returning to his restaurant which is all the way at the other side of the world in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Freshly shucked oyster topped with salmon caviar

Having just got back from my holiday to Brazil I was excited to be invited to sample Kinoshita's cooking along with The London Foodie and a handful of other lucky guests. While in Brazil I had experienced the quality and sheer number of Japanese restaurants thanks to Brazil having the largest Japanese population outside Japan so I knew we would be in for a treat.

The Loft Project itself used to be Mendes flat and is a soaring space with only one, long table which sits 16 guests. From the table there was a great view of the open kitchen where we could watch Kinoshita, Mendes and their team calmly and methodically preparing the food. And wow, what superb food it was.

Kinoshita serving the food to our table at The Loft Project

Kinoshita describes his cooking as kappo cuisine, an elaborate presentation made by the chef interacting directly with the customers in the preparation of the dishes. His food is elegant, pared back and a complete knockout. It is cutting edge Japanese cooking with varied influences from Meditteranean ingredients such as olive oil to Brazillian produce such as okra. He described his approach to me as "less is more". To start, a creamy oyster topped with salmon caviar and paired with a lime stuffed with enoki mushrooms dressed with soya sauce. Typically of Kinoshita's approach the ingredients were simple but each sourced carefully to the extent that he uses his own "vintage" soya sauce which was softer and less salty than your standard fare. To follow, a tomato was dressed with chilli and salt and then fried and teamed with Japanese egg plant and creamy mozzarella which Kinoshita dubbed "hiyayako cheese" as he prepared it in the style of hiyayako tofu.

Tomato and aubergine

The stand out dishes in a meal full of stylishly plated and sensationally flavoursome food were the mackerel and the green beans. For the mackerel, slices of sashimi grade mackerel and sea bass were served with a tiny ball of sushi rice and drizzled with Kinoshita's vintage soya sauce. The fish was silky but meaty while the rice was a revelation. "See the rice, each grain is touching" said Kinoshita as he served the dish and grinned, "Maybe this rice can change your life."

Mackerel and Sea Bass, the "rice to change your life" is underneath the fish

The other highlight was the green beans which were fresh, crisp and topped with a tender prawn. The magic though was in the accompanying sauce which was a miso sauce topped with a raw quails egg yolk. When the egg was mixed into the sauce it created an incredibly light sauce but with amazing depth. It was brilliant stuff.

Soba noodles

It was not all seafood with Kinoshita also wowing the carnivores amongst us with a tartare of wagyu beef from Australia mixed with flecks of jamon and topped with a jaunty cap of wilted spinach. Kinoshita's soba noodles were also utterly transfixing, topped with dried daikon and okra the dashi stock was rich and moreish.

Dessert of yoghurt, diced pineapple and lime sorbet

From this incredible parade of dishes the only one to disappoint me was the dessert of yoghurt, diced pineapple and a lime sorbet. I felt the dish was to bitter and needed more sweetness to balance out the yoghurt and sorbet. However, this was the only misstep in what was a truly incredible meal which culminated with Kinoshita, who is a talented singer breaking into song post service. It was a spectacular meal and made me want to hop on the first plane back to Brazil to eat at Kinoshita's restaurant proper. For Kinoshita, truly less is more and more and more.

Kinoshita about to break into song, post service

Gourmet Chick was a guest of Kinoshita.

Essentials

Details: The Loft Project, 2A Quebec Wharf, 315 Kingsland road, Shoreditch E84DJ (Ph 07794 550 413) Overground: Haggerston

Damage: Budget Breaking. Although on this occasion I did not pay.

10/10

If you are lucky enough to be reading Gourmet Chick from Brazil you can find Restaurant Kinoshita at Vila Nova Conceicao, 405 Rua Jacques Felix, Sao Paolo, Brazil (Ph +55 11 3849 6940).

Links

If you liked reading this you might be interested in my reviews of some of London's top Japanese restaurants Koya and Roka.

You might have noticed the photography on display here is considerably superior to the usual fare on Gourmet Chick. This is because I was sitting next to a professional photographer Ana Rojas who kindly sent me her photographs. All photographs except for the final two are Ana's.

St Ali

In headline news for Melburnians in London and lovers of coffee generally, the famed Melbourne coffee shop, St Ali, has opened a London out post. Located in Farringdon, just at the corner of Clerkenwell road and St John street, St Ali is joining the increasing flood of cool new eateries in the area. The cafe is very “Melbourne” from the slick space, obsessive coffee focus, coffee art and complimentary water and newspapers.

The front window at St Ali

This space looks amazing with a huge roasting machine towering over a large wooden island bench where the baristas are at work and a living wall of plants lining one wall. I almost felt cooler just by being there. Crucially though, the coffee was great.

The roasting machine dominates the rear of the shop

I tried the house blend “champion” in a latte (£2.50). It is blended from three coffees (on my visit 60 per cent Brazillian, 30 per cent Guatemalan and 10 per cent Rwandan) to create a heart-stopping caffeine hit. For serious coffee connisseurs St Ali also serves coffee in different styles such as siphoned and aero pressed. However you go about your coffee, it is roasted, blended and cupped (tasted) at St Ali and the love and attention shows in the finished brew. My coffee had a slightly wonky coffee art leaf pattern but it was temperate, strong and delivered on taste.

My latte

St Ali also does food with a plate full of fat brownies and blondies (£2 each) sitting on the counter and a menu which offers breakfast and more substantial options as well. My dark chocolate brownie was a monster and while slightly drier than I usually prefer my brownies it went well with the bitterness of the coffee. I didn’t get to try out any more of the menu on this visit as I was on my way to dinner, but I will be back for the scrambled eggs with Forman and Son smoked salmon (£8) and the amazing sounding breakfast bruschetta (£8).

Welcome to London St Ali, I am pretty excited about your arrival.

The brownies and blondies

Essentials

Details: St Ali, 27 Clerkenwell Road, Farringdon EC1M 5RN (Ph 07780 112631) Tube: Farringdon

Damage: Reasonable

I can’t really rate the food but will give the coffee a 9/10

The living wall at the rear of the shop

Links

If you liked reading this you might be interested in more good coffee from Antipodean haunts in London, Lantana and Providores.

Bistro du Vin

It would be easy to turn your nose up at the brand new Bistro du Vin which opened last week in Clerkenwell. After all, it is the latest offering from the wildly successful Hotel du Vin group and before the doors were even opened at the Clerkenwell site, a dozen Bistro du Vin's were already being planned. (The next one will be in Soho, opposite Dean Street Townhouse). Perhaps this could be seen as over confidence on the part of the owners, if it was not already apparent that they have a great concept which people love.

Goats cheese soufflé

I am generally not a fan of chains and so was a little ambivalent about being invited along with Food for Think and Rocket and Squash to try out Bistro du Vin. I was also a little sad that the restaurant was one the site of the now defunct but excellent Eastside Inn. However, after my meal there I was won over. Just like the hotels, the philosophy behind Bistro du Vin is one of accessible luxury. Bistro du Vin has some of the features you expect to find in a Michelin star restaurant like a special meat aging room, a famed Josper Grill burning away in the kitchen and a cheese trolley to rival that of Chez Bruce. However all of this is delivered in a cosy French bistro setting. The walls are a burnished yellow colour which is supposed to mimic nicotine stains without the accompanying smell and wine memorabilia hangs everywhere while an open kitchen in the centre adds the food porn element.

The huge sirloin steak

The menu reflects Bistro du Vin's down to earth approach, featuring mainly simple, crowd pleasing food drawn from British and seasonal produce where ever possible. Chef Keith Shearer described his approach to me as "Creating bistro classics as simply as possible." Prices are non-gasping and there is even a very French "Plat du Jour" option which is priced around £12.50 and features roast lamb on a Sunday or a Boullibaise on Tuesdays. Details of all the producers are listed on the back of the menu making it much easier reading.

Rice pudding

To start, Bistro du Vin's signature cocktail, a sweet marmalade vodka martini (£10) and a fluffy, rich goat's cheese soufflé (£6.75). English asparagus with a sauce ravigote (£7.95) were tender yet crisp thanks to being perfectly in season and impeccably sourced.

I couldn't resist trying out the Josper grill so ordered the bone in sirloin (£30). Only a handful of restaurants in the UK have a Josper grill, the Spanish charcoal oven which gets incredibly hot (up to 900 degrees) and gives a rich, smoky char to any meat cooked in it. The Belton Galloway sirloin arrived looking a little like a Tyrannosaurus Rex steak, it was so huge along with a gleaming copper saucepan of Béarnaise sauce. I loved the flavour of the smoky meat but unfortunately my steak was more medium than the medium-rare requested. Not the end of the world and this could easily have been just a bit of a teething problem in the opening week.

Profiteroles

Dessert of rice pudding was a little on the dull side despite the disc of caramel that topped it and the accompanying rhubarb purée. A better option was the profiteroles which came filled with ice-cream rather than cream and drizzled in hot chocolate sauce. Spectacularly good! However it would be crazy to go past the cheese trolley which is sourced from La Cave Fromagerie and is truly incredible. I had cheese dreams for the whole next night.

Like Hotel du Vin, there is a big focus on wine at Bistro du Vin. A "By-the-Glass" dispensing system allows wines to be sampled by the glass from what is almost a giant wine vending machine. If this sounds all too new age there is also a traditional wine list that draws from France as well as more unusual locations such as Lebanon and different varieties such as Godello. I particularly enjoyed the Hochar from Chateau Musar in Lebanon which featured a heady mix of red and black fruits creating a light, sprightly wine.

This was the cheese "table" on the opening night of Bistro du Vin, which has now been condensed into a just as impressive cheese trolley

Bistro du Vin is going to be rolled out in London and will inevitably lose some of its individual character in the process, but for now the Clerkenwell restaurant is lively and welcoming. It is the sort of place you would love to have as your neighbourhood restaurant, and thanks to the expansion plans, that wish may just come true.

Gourmet Chick was a guest of Bistro du Vin

Essentials

Details: Bistro du Vin, 38-42 St John Street, Clerkenwell EC1M 4DL (Ph 020 7490 9230) Tube: Farringdon

Damage: Pricey but I did not pay on this occasion.

7/10

Links

If you liked reading this you can read about other Clerkenwell options, nearby St John's or Bistro Bruno Loubet.

The Punch Bowl

This is the tale of one of my favourite dresses. Well it was one of my favourite dresses until I met some friends at The Punch Bowl in Mayfair and one of the bar staff knocked an entire bottle of red wine over me. He was very apologetic and offered to pay for dry cleaning and get us some drinks but I was so drenched in red wine that I just had to turn around and go home, keeping the bar manager's details with me. My dry cleaner had no luck getting the red wine out so I sadly emailed The Punch Bowl to let them know and as compensation the manager offered complimentary dinner and drinks.

The dress post dry cleaning

So thanks to a ruined dress MTV boyfriend and I had dinner at The Punch Bowl last week. The pub is quite famous in London thanks to its owner Guy Ritchie, there are plenty of tales of 'lock-ins' in the upstairs room with the likes of Madonna (previously!) or Jude Law. Other than the celebrity connection, The Punch Bowl seems like any other pub in this rather privileged neck of the woods. It has a traditional feel with candles on the tables, sepia toned photographs and wood panelled walls. The only giveaway is the "no photography" policy which seems to be aimed at guarding the privacy of its celebrity diners. I took some creative licence and decided to interpret this policy loosely to mean no photography of fellow diners rather than no photography of the food.

Crowds outside the Punch Bowl making the most of the current summery weather

A simple starter of plump spears of asparagus drizzled with hollandaise sauce was perfect spring fodder. The spears were tender and the hollandaise was a cheery, creamy yellow. However, scallops served with bacon were a over worked for a pub and the subtle flavour of the scallops was lost in all the extra ingredients on the plate. Less is more in my view.

Scallops with bacon

Our waiter talked MTV boyfriend into the trout by telling us it was in season and new to the menu. It was a good tip as the trout was a pearly pink and well paired with baby potatoes and purple sprouting broocoli. Hangar steak was served sliced on a board alongside a couple of fat potato chips and a slow roasted onion (£17.95). The steak had a great, slightly charred flavour however it erred on being the side of medium rather than the requested medium rare.

Trout with baby potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli

Sticky toffee pudding was moist, light and slathered in dollops of addictive caramel sauce. However the apple and fig crumble was a little bit soggy with the crumble topping lacking the requisite crunch.

Apple crumble

The Punch Bowl offers classic meals with a little bit of frippery as a nod to its Mayfair surroundings. As long as the waiters are not tipping bottles of wine over you, the service is very welcoming and friendly. They would not get away with charging these sort of prices for the calibre of food in other parts of town, but this is Mayfair and the pub does have a certain celebrity cachet. Dinner and drinks will never replace my dress but the spilt wine was a genuine accident and I felt The Punch Bowl responded well.

Essentials

Details: The Punch Bowl, 41 Farm Street,Mayfair, W1J 5RP (Ph 020 7493 6841)

Damage: Reasonable although on this occasion it cost me one dress.

6/10

Links

If you liked reading this you might be interested in my review of the ultimate in gastro pubs, Heston Blumenthal's The Hind's Head or in London try a Sunday lunch at The Spaniard.