“This is the place to show us why man discovered fire” Fay Maschler, The Evening Standard
Neil Rankin, replete with tattoos and baseball cap, was one of the poster boys for London’s barbecue revolution, working at the helm of Pitt Cue, John Salt and, more recently, Bad Egg. I was surprised to learn that he has only been cooking professionally for 7 years: he studied acoustic engineering at university and worked as a sound engineer for a few years before running a highly successful sandwich shop franchise in Scotland. He then took an intensive cookery course and cut his teeth at a number of fine dining restaurants, including Chez Bruce and Rhodes 24, before having a barbecue epiphany as one of the founder chefs at Barbecoa. This led to his appointment as head chef at Pitt Cue. Rankin teamed up with Noble Inns to open the Smokehouse last year and has received widespread critical acclaim, including a score of 8/10 from Lisa Markwell in The Independent and 4 stars from Time Out. A second Smokehouse opened in Chiswick this weekend.
There is an a la carte menu at lunch and dinner throughout the week and on Saturday evenings, as well as a shorter brunch menu on Saturday mornings and Sundays (offering French toast for £10, a burger at £15, black pudding and pork hash (£10) as well as a few other dishes). They have an impressive craft (mostly keg) beer collection, with a wide range of options focusing on London brewers, including Beavertown, Fourpure and Kernel (along with some stronger beers from the excellent Scottish brewers Harviestoun). Having heard that portion sizes are very generous we skipped starters and moved straight to mains, beginning with smoked pork belly, tattie scone, black pudding & apple, beurre blanc (£18). The large round of belly was served on top of the tattie scone and black pudding, it came decorated with a slice of chicory which added a hint of much needed acidity and bitterness, counteracting all of the rich, fatty flavours in the dish. The pork was only lightly smoked which allowed the nutty complexity of the belly flavours to come through, and the gelatinous fat was wonderfully sticky. The black pudding was peppery and its crunchy texture combined well with the pork. I thought the beurre blanc brought the dish together well – I was worried that it might make the dish overly rich, but whilst of course being very buttery, it had been made with a good slug of wine which added sharpness. The only disappointment was the tattie scone which had been made with too much flour and then fried for too long so that it was chewy and doughy.
Keen to try one of Rankin’s recent experimentations with Korean food, we followed with smoked duck, kimchi, hash cake & fried egg (£18). Again, the smoking of the duck was spot on, it added interest and depth to the meat but didn’t mask it’s natural flavour; the kimchi had a nice chilli kick and brought much needed tartness to all of the bold flavours. The hash cake was crispy and well seasoned, it brought the dish together very well. Service was friendly, hip and efficient.
Verdict: Neil Rankin is a master of the barbecue 8.5/10
Smoking Goat 7 Denmark Street, WC2H 8LZ Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road map
“The food at Smoking Goat isn’t finger-licking good, it’s fist-and-wrist-and-possibly-elbow-and-knee-licking good.” Marina O’Loughlin, The Guardian
The smoking goat opened last autumn and its rough and tumble, messy Northern Thai street food has received a lot of attention since then, with favourable reviews from Marina, Fay and even a minor royal. Head chef Seb Holmes was poached from another Thai kitchen, the Begging Bowl in Peckham, and is joined by Gino Tighe who previously worked at The Quality Chophouse. It is situated in a former Soho dive bar – space is tight with around 40 covers, most of which are seated around the bar and the smell of the smoky wood ember barbecue permeates the whole room. They employ the requisite no bookings policy and score extra hipster points for having no phone or website. A lot of reviews have focused on the queuing, darkness and noise, but I didn’t encounter problems with any of these: I arrived early (just before 7pm) and was seated straight away; for me, the atmosphere was fun and buzzy. The menu is short and sweet with a handful of choices for each course – starters are up to £6 and mains £15-20.
We started with the popular fish sauce wings (£6) – these were the biggest wings I have ever eaten (monster chickens?) and came deep fried, smothered in sesame seeds and sticky, crispy batter. The meat was dark and packed with flavour, with only a subtle hint of fishiness: it was very juicy and simply fell off the bone. Our next dish was a special of roasted whole scallops (great value at £3.50 each) – these were served in the shell complete with their coral. The scallop had been carefully prepared and cleaned so there wasn’t any grit and the cooking was bang on: the flesh was soft and silky, with a slightly smoky finish.
For mains we had slow roasted duck legs (£15) and pork saddle chops (£20). The duck legs were firm and juicy, encased in a rich, sticky glaze and paired well with a lemongrass and kaffir lime dip. The pork saddle chops were the day’s special, the meat having arrived freshly in the morning – the chops had been chargrilled and were firm, glutinous and lightly smoked. Som tam (green papaya salad) offered some light relief from all the sticky proteins – it was loaded with chilli and laced with zesty lime and sweet palm sugar. We washed all this down with pints of Gamma Ray American Pale Ale by Beavertown which were full of vigorous hops with a nice tropical fruit finish (all for an eye-watering £6.75 a pint).
Verdict: great value Thai food in a hip setting 8/10
Luc’s Brasserie has been fattening up pinstriped Lloyd’s underwriters for many years, situated at the heart of Leadhall Market they serve traditional French bistro food in a relaxed setting. They offer a set price lunch menu of 3 courses for £19.95 (which is fairly reasonable given its central location) and an a la carte with starters up to £9.50 and mains for £12.75 to £17.50. Dishes include many French staples, including baked Camembert, steak tartare, duck confit and toulouse sausage.
I went along for a mid-week lunch, starting with smoked haddock gratin with mussels. This arrived very promptly and must have been pre-assembled and then finished under the grill, but the fish was fresh, firm and full of flavour; the breadcrumbs were crispy and nicely laced with cheese. I really enjoyed the sauce which was creamy and rich (I think it might have been enhanced by a drop of fish stock). A simple but very pleasing dish.
Feeling unadventurous, I opted for the half of roasted chicken with frites for my main course. Again, this arrived suspiciously quickly: the leg and breast had been separated from the body and were clumsily presented along with an old-school sauce boat of gravy. The meat was a tiny bit dry but still fairly juicy and the skin was perfectly crispy. The gravy was reasonable and the frites were thinly cut and freshly made. Service was fast, efficient and generally friendly.
Verdict: reasonably priced French bistro food 6.5/10
Bleecker burger Spitalfields Market, Unit B, SP 4 Pavilion Building, E1 6EA Nearest tube: Liverpool Street website; map
Zan Kaufman’s route to London foodie fame is an unusual one. She started out as a New York corporate lawyer, but her love of food led her to take a second job in a Manhattan burger restaurant. Then she decamped to the UK (her husband in British) and, inspired by KERB founder Petra Barran, bought a truck and converted it into a food van. Her Yankee style burgers (made with rare breed meat from The Butchery in Bermondsey) quickly received rave reviews, including a 10/10 from the Burger Addict blog. She opened a permanent space in Spitalfields market in February (although the burger van is still out and about) and I went along there for a mid-week lunch. They have a small unit near the main entrance of the market and a few picnic tables of seating around – beware, the market is covered but still outdoors, so it can get pretty chilly there. The menu is short and sweet with the only offerings being a cheese or veggie burgers (£6), a bacon cheeseburger (£7), a double cheeseburger (£9), and the mighty Bleecker Black (£10).
I couldn’t resist trying the Bleecker Black – a double cheeseburger with black pudding, American cheese, onion and hot sauce. The burgers were smaller than I imagined and were cooked wonderfully medium rare though well coloured on the outside, the meat was properly seasoned The bun was of the more traditional seeded variety (rather than brioche as is the trend these days) – it was lightly toasted, had a nice light consistency and stood up very well to the burger juices and sauce. I enjoyed the black pudding which was moist and peppery, with a hint of crunch although it’s flavour did dwarf the burger meat somewhat. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the “American” cheese which was sharp and slightly sweet, it melted nicely into the burger meat and bun.
On the side I had “angry fries” (£4) which come smothered in blue cheese and hot sauce – they are made from Maris Piper potatoes and are cut freshly (skin-on) every day. The fries were nicely crispy, liberally salted and the little hints of skin added texture; the hot sauce wasn’t too hot but worked well with the punchy blue cheese.
Verdict: great quality burger and fries, probably my second favourite in London behind Patty & Bun8/10
113 Great Portland Street, W1W 6QQ Nearest tube: Great Portland Street 0207 436 3261 website; map
Portland opened in January and is now one of London’s hottest restaurants, getting a 10/10 from Giles Coren in The Times and 5 stars from Time Out; Marina O’Loughin of the Guardian is “smitten” with the place and on my visit AA Gill was eating at an adjacent table. It has been set up by Daniel Morgenthau (previously of 10 Greek Street) and Will Lander. Lander has good pedigree – he founded the Quality Chop House and is the son of the FT’s restaurant critic Nicolas Lander. The head chef is the impressively named Merlin Labron-Johnson who moved to Portland after two years as sous chef at a funky Belgian Michelin starred restaurant called In de Wulf. The restaurant is in a long, thin room topped by an open kitchen and adorned with minimal artwork and furnishings – it has lots of hard surfaces so is a bit noisy (but not in an intrusive way). They offer the same a la carte menu (4 choices for each course) at both lunch and dinner, and pricing is very reasonable given the quality of Labron-Johnson’s cooking, with starters at £6-11 and mains up to £20.
I started with roasted scallops and artichoke velouté (£12) which was truly wonderful – the scallops had been cooked perfectly so they were soft, silky yet still firm and the rich, light velouté was packed with deep earthy notes. The velouté was sprinkled with little artichoke crisps which lended texture and body to the dish. We also had a simple mackerel and oyster tartare with beetroot and a hint of wasabi (£11), this was well composed so that the mackerel and oyster stood out clearly, although I would have preferred the wasabi to be slightly stronger.
For main course we had wood pigeon with enoki mushrooms, parsley and smoked onion tea (£19). The cooking of the pigeon was faultless – the breast was tender and full of gamey flavour, the leg was served whole and looked great on the plate: the leg meat was delicious although there wasn’t a great amount of it. The enoki mushrooms (normally used in Japanese cooking) were doused in meat stock and their delicate flavour countered the pigeon very well. I was disappointed with the parsnips which were slightly underdone – I would have liked them to be finished in the oven and nicely caramelised. I was slightly confused by the onion tea which tasted a bit like lukewarm bovril and seemed superfluous to the rest of the dish.
Our second main was fallow deer with Martin Sec pear and kale (£20) which was handsomely presented in a nouveau-rustic style. The deer loin was cooked wonderfully pink and it had a understated game hue, it combined nicely with the slightly sweet, almost floral flavours of the roasted pear. Kale added texture, crunch and a hint of bitterness to the mix. A well balanced and perfectly prepared dish.
We finished with a simple but truly memorable hazelnut eclair (£5) – a beautifully presented and executed pastry that was sweet but not sickly. The pastry was light and crispy – I totally agree with Lisa Markwell of the Independent who called it “the equal of the finest Parisienne pâtisserie”. And a final note on our service which was fantastic – friendly and attentive yet unobtrusive, we also had a nice chat with chef Merlin who let us sample some of his uncle’s homemade blackberry wine.
Verdict: Portland is deserving of all the attention and hype 9/10
Richard Corrigan was born in Dublin and raised in County Meath, just outside the city. He left Ireland at 18, working in various Michelin-starred restaurants in Amsterdam before moving to London and rising to Head Chef at Mulligan’s in Mayfair. He won his first Michelin star as head chef of Stephen Bull’s Fulham Road restaurant in 1994 and his second three years later at Lindsay House in Soho. Corrigan’s Mayfair is his flagship fine dining restaurant – it opened in October 2009 to widespread critical acclaim, and was quickly named London Restaurant of the Year by the Evening Standard. The menu focuses on meat and game – Corrigan’s ethos is all about sourcing good ingredients and preparing them with the minimum of fuss. The decor is very Mayfair – it is smart and extravagant with lots of wood and leather……I pity the poor waitress tasked with ironing all of the white tablecloths.
I went along for Sunday lunch where they offer a very keenly priced set menu of three courses for £29 (possibly one of best value Sunday lunches in London?). For starter I opted for braised rose veal breast with caesar dressing, salad leaves and pickles. I was expecting a warm chunk of veal amidst a hearty salad, but what arrived was quite different. The veal was served cold – it had been pressed, rolled, seasoned and then thinly sliced, it was served along with dollops of creamy caesar dressing and sharp, zesty pickles. The texture of the meat was light and soft, with just the right fat content – a very pleasing dish.
I followed this with roast brill (a flat fish similar to turbot but a tad less refined/pricey), cockles and salsify. The brill was generously sized and came with beautifully crispy roast potatoes and decadently creamy cauliflower cheese on the side. As expected, the fish was very fresh – it was chunky and meaty, yet subtly flavoured and slightly sweet. The outside of the fillet was nicely browned which brought flavour and texture, but for me the fish had been slightly overcooked. The cockles were wonderful – light and not at all chewy, they had been carefully prepared so they didn’t contain a hint of grit or sand. I couldn’t resist the chocolate fondant with Guinness ice cream for dessert – this was executed well with a lovely runny centre and a strong cocoa kick. The ice cream only had a subtle hint of Guinness flavour but worked well with the rich fondant.
Verdict: a decadent, fantastic value Sunday lunch 8/10
Rooftop Cafe Fielden House, 28 London Bridge Street, SE1 9SG Nearest tube: London Bridge 020 31023770 website; map
‘It’s in the wrong sort of building, in the wrong part of town, with the wrong menu. And yet it’s brilliant’ Giles Coren, The Times
The rooftop cafe is pretty hard to find. It is round near the back entrance of London Bridge station at the top of an innocuous looking office building: you need to buzz to get in, head into a lift, then up a couple of floors of narrow steps and through a few unmarked doors before you eventually arrive at the dining room. The space used to be a janitor’s store and it is a pretty small, with an open kitchen and (oddly) orange-painted roof beams. They have a roof terrace where they grow their herbs and you can dine out there in the summer. It opened in early 2012, and has received a slowly increasing number of favourable reviews ever since, with Giles Coren giving it a great little write up in The Times before Christmas. Head chef Peter Le Faucheur’s menu is short and to the point, it apparently changes daily and it is strictly seasonal (as everyone claims these days, but I believe it here). Pricing is reasonable with starters at £6-9 and mains for £12-19. I started with salt and pepper squid with gremolata (a Mediterranean mix of chopped herbs with lemon and garlic). The squid was served whole, encased in a light, peppery batter and sitting on the bright, zesty gremolata. The cooking of the squid was spot on – it was soft and succulent yet retained a slight crunch; the gremolata added depth and interest. A simple, but extremely well executed dish.
I followed with lamb shank, cabbage and spring onions (£19). This was a massive dish and would have been big enough for two to share – the shank had been cooked really slowly and was so soft that it could have been eaten with a spoon. It had been roasted in Chinese five-spice powder which added a slight Asian slant, the cabbage was smothered in roasting stock and was wonderfully sticky and rich – a heartwarming main course. I had no room for dessert but their bread and butter pudding looks fantastic.
Verdict: An unlikely hidden gem 7.5/10
Bistro Union 40 Abbeville Road, Clapham, SW4 9NG Nearest tube: Clapham South 020 7042 6400 website; map
Adam Byatt has been the boss of Clapham’s culinary scene for over a decade, firstly with Thyme (which opened in 2001, followed by an unsuccessful move to the West End) and then Trinity (2006) – he now has competition though, with young pretenders, The Dairy and The Manor aiming to steal his crown with their scando-hipster ingenuity. He opened Bistro Union a couple of years ago on the gentrified Abbeville Road, a short walk from Clapham South tube station, and quickly won a Michelin bib gourmand as well as a place in Time Out’s 50 top London restaurants. His head chef, Karl Goward previously worked at St. John Bread and Wine and this experience comes through in his menu – the dishes are simple and let the ingredients speak for themselves. We started with brown shrimp, monk’s beard and boiled potatoes (£7) – the shrimps were meaty, and were complemented by the fresh, crunchy monk’s beard. The cooking of the potatoes was good and they added bulk to the dish.
Our second starter was pheasant, blood orange and watercress (£7) – this was light and summery, the bittersweet blood orange paired well with the soft, beautifully pink pheasant. Feeling both hungry and brave, for main course we chose the whole beef rib (£44 for two to share) which came with Bearnaise sauce and thick cut chips. As you can see from the photograph below this was an impressive piece of meat (easily over a kilo). The rib had been cooked on the bone so the meat was very moist, the fat was crispy and melt in the mouth; the cooking was consistently medium-rare across the whole rib. The quality of the beef was very good and I think on par with my recent steak at Hawksmoor – the chips were double or triple cooked, so nicely crispy, and the Bearnaise had a good consistency. My only gripe was that we would have liked a few more chips to complement our hunk of meat.
Verdict: well-prepared, homely classics made with well-sourced ingredients 7.5/10
Bad Egg City Point, Unit 1b, 1 Ropemaker St, EC2Y 9AW Nearest tube: Moorgate 020 3006 6222 website; map
Bad Egg opened just before Christmas last year and is the latest venture from Scottish barbecue guru Neil Rankin, former head chef of Pitt Cue and John Salt. It is an all-day diner with a hipster bent (but ultimately probably aimed at City boys) – the menu is mostly composed of “dirty” meat dishes with a vague Korean theme (well, at least kimchi appears quite frequently on the menu). The menu is long and muddled: sub-genres are burgers, ribs, eggy things and (strangely) tacos; pricing is reasonable with the most expensive dish at £11. The set up is you would expect – they have the requisite craft beers on hand (from Beavertown, Fourpure and Camden breweries), the decor is stripped back and the furnishings reclaimed.
I couldn’t resist choosing the bad egg burger (£11), composed of a beef patty with cheese fondue, pickles, onions and, of course, a soft boiled egg. The burger was slightly smaller than I expected but was well seasoned, cooked nicely pink and came decadently smothered in rich, runny cheese. The cheese fondue was a masterstroke – the cheese was the right strength and was nicely liquid without being stringy or cloying. Disappointingly, my egg was a bit over cooked – it was not as runny as it should have been, although otherwise I was really impressed with the dish. I had kimchi fries (£5) on the side which complemented the burger really well – the kimchi was spicier than average and had very good texture, the skinny fries were bog standard but were brought to life by the zesty kimchi. Service was attentive but ineffectual (they confused our drinks orders and served a pint very shy of the watermark).
Verdict: worth a visit despite the mixed-up concept, odd location and slightly inept service 6/10
Crate Brewery The White Building, Unit 7, Queen’s Yard, E9 5EN Nearest tube: Hackney Wick 07834 275687 website; map
I then ventured further east for a quick visit to Crate Bewery which is based in a canal-side warehouse a few minutes’ walk from Hackney Wick station. The bar/restaurant is right next door to the brewery itself and owners Neil Hinchley, Tom and Jess Seaton (who are also responsible for the nearby Counter Cafe) have done a great job of converting the former print factory into an open and comfortable space. Unsurprisingly, they have a great range of beers (Lager, Golden Ale, India Pale Ale, Best Bitter and Stout, £3.8-4.5) – I sampled the Best Bitter which was malty with notes of caramel and a touch of fruitiness, recommended. They offer a little range of handmade stone-baked pizzas (£8-12, apparently all devised by Jess and her mum) which are prepared in an open kitchen in the middle of the bar. We chose the wackiest of the bunch: sage, potato and white truffle with mozzarella and parmesan (£10). The pizza arrived quickly with a waft of pungent truffle aromas – the topping was thin but very strongly flavoured with the parmesan, sage and truffle all fighting for attention. The potato had been grated over the base and softened the flavour of the other components, also adding texture. We shared this between two and I think it would have been tough to eat a whole one because of the rich and punchy flavours, but a slice or two works very well with a nice hoppy beer.
Verdict: great beer and interesting pizzas 6/10
Shahi Karahi is a Pakistani restaurant and takeaway at the (quiet) south end of Brick Lane, they specialise in tandoori grills and kebabs but also have a range of traditional curries. I went along for a quick midweek lunch – their food is fantastic value and they offer a set lunch deal of a meat dish with chips or rice and salad for £6. The set up is pretty basic – they have an open grill at front of restaurant and a dining area with about 60 covers in the back.
The chops had been first cooked in the tandoori oven and then finished on the grill so they were nicely charred and retained a slightly smoky flavour. Our waiter would not reveal the components of the “secret” marinade but the spicing was bang on – there were hints of coriander leading to a nice chilli kick. The salad was fresh and the chips were cooked from frozen but were nice enough.
Verdict: great value and authentic Pakistani food prepared with care 7/10
Murray Blake 