An article in yesterday's Telegraph raised my hackles
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10641913/French-chefs-hit-back-at-food-porn-photos-in-their-restaurants.html
Basically some restaurants don't like comments about their products on social media, and say that diners are disruptive taking photographs of food.
I have two points of view here.
Firstly, the point of this blog is highlighting the issue of food from restaurants being served appropriately hot (plus a few other ideas). There needs to a joined up operation so that cooked food is delivered promptly and appropriately.
Secondly, even though you may not have paid the bill, once the meal has been served and accepted, it is yours on the understanding that it will be paid for. Just as one might take a picture of a car one was going to buy or something to wear, it is reasonable to discuss it in an honest and objective manner on social media. It is no different to a newpaper restaurant critic, and the pictures do add a different dimension.
I try not to be disruptive when I photograph food, and mostly try to have an appropriate camera that will function without flash. Sometimes restaurant lighting is so bad that pictures are less than perfect, but my ideal is to show what is good (and occasionally what is bad). If I have a bad experience, as long as I can justify it, it seem reasonable to blog about it with a picture.
I know that a few of my entries have been looked at many times, and I hope they help other diners make up their mind or be reassured.
If food was always hot when it is supposed to be hot, then I would to write about something else.
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Da Franco, Friern Barnet: Stepping back into a little bit of traditional Italian.
13th Feb 2014
Since this establishment was set up in the early 1980's, things have moved on for Italian restaurants in the UK, and the modern style with harsh surfaces and fewer cream sauce dishes, and possibly no veal have become more popular. This is an old established favourite that has been here as long as I remember, and is very popular with the locals, in fact so popular, that you might not get in without a booking, and would definitely need to book for a Saturday night. I am guessing that very few things except the prices have changed since the 80's. It is people who want this style and type of food that are regular patrons, and with good reason. I wish there were more like it.
We went there the day before Valentines Day thinking that it would be pretty empty, but it was not. There was hardly an empty seat in the place but it may have been people who could not get in the next day.
There is a big menu of traditional dishes which can be viewed on their web site http://dafrancorestaurant.co.uk/index and a board of daily specials.
Interesting to note that whilst there is lots of pasta, there is no pizza. This may be deliberate. There is a fair choice of wines at average suburban prices.
For starter, because I was feeling greedy, I ordered the linguine alle vongole which was described as coming with clams, garlic, white wine and tomato. This is often served with the clams in their shells, this was more of a sauce.
Since this establishment was set up in the early 1980's, things have moved on for Italian restaurants in the UK, and the modern style with harsh surfaces and fewer cream sauce dishes, and possibly no veal have become more popular. This is an old established favourite that has been here as long as I remember, and is very popular with the locals, in fact so popular, that you might not get in without a booking, and would definitely need to book for a Saturday night. I am guessing that very few things except the prices have changed since the 80's. It is people who want this style and type of food that are regular patrons, and with good reason. I wish there were more like it.
We went there the day before Valentines Day thinking that it would be pretty empty, but it was not. There was hardly an empty seat in the place but it may have been people who could not get in the next day.
There is a big menu of traditional dishes which can be viewed on their web site http://dafrancorestaurant.co.uk/index and a board of daily specials.
Interesting to note that whilst there is lots of pasta, there is no pizza. This may be deliberate. There is a fair choice of wines at average suburban prices.
For starter, because I was feeling greedy, I ordered the linguine alle vongole which was described as coming with clams, garlic, white wine and tomato. This is often served with the clams in their shells, this was more of a sauce.
This was a huge portion, (and for £1.95 more it could have been a main course). It was steaming with a CHOF of 9. The sauce prevented tasting the individual clams, but it was well cooked tasty and may be a bit too much for a starter portion, but I was not complaining.
For main course I had Scaloppine Crema e Funghi which is an old fashioned veal dish with a cream and musroom sauce: one of my stable favourites, where I know I cannot go very wrong.
This was accompanied by spinach and french fries (my choice). Again this was a CHOF of 9 and was exactly what I was expecting. Looking back on the picture, it looks as if the veal may have been drowned in sauce, but this was not a problem, and I would not criticize: it is what the customers want, and I am one of them. I did not have room for desert, and stuck a spoon into my wife's traditional grandmother's pie with apricot. Service is friendly, but when the place gets full, things slow down a little, hopefully because everything is cooked to order.
I don't know why we don't go there more often. Possibly because on a number of times when I have phoned there was no availability. If you want hot old fashioned Italian this ticks the boxes: not everyone will see it that way, and I remember last time I came here, I brought an old friend who was somewhat disparaging of the old fashioned approach. Everyone to their own, and this one suits.
The bill for two and a half courses each and a bottle of wine came to £67. That was a little more than we were expecting, but there was nothing outrageous that had taken place. I guess I am just having to move my goal which said a meal for two (non ethnic e.g. Indian, Turkish) costs £50 to nearer £65. Makes the central London places seem not so bad.
1 Lombard Street: not just an address
12th February
My daughter has an eye for offers on Top Table, and choosing upper end restaurants. It was suggested that we would meet her and her boyfriend for dinner. As this restaurant brasserie is bang slap in the middle of the City, just by Bank station, it is not somewhere we would normally have chosen. Comments on TopTable say
"With an extraordinary domed ceiling by Pietro Agostini, the Brasserie at 1 Lombard Street is ideal for business and leisurely breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Our private room can be used for a variety of corporate and private events. Evenings have a unique atmosphere, with an unrivalled selection of cocktails and champagne. Authentic tapas and oriental bites can be enjoyed at the bar and surrounding intimate booths." You get the idea, and this is a place that is normally full of city types. I would not say it looked as if it were full of bankers, but judging by the papers carried, it might be legal and insurance types.
The restaurant's own web site says "Lombard Street is where the City meets for breakfast, lunch and dinner, launches new businesses, signs deals and celebrates profits. And it's even where the City gets married."
There is a web site which you can check out on http://www.1lombardstreet.com/ .
My wife and I were definitely the oldest people there, and the young staff seemed unused to dealing with suburban clients. They did not want us hanging around the entrance, and fiddled about before sitting us down.
The atmosphere is extremely good, and there was an exhibition called Destinies by Louis Boudreault. You can just about see this in the background. I picked up a price list, and you could buy one of the paintings for between £15000 to £38000. No doubt they would have put it on the bill and added a 12.5% service charge.
The top table menu is short (and there can be supplementary charges), and the staff probably are used to diners for whom a deal has another meaning. Like many London stylish eateries, they adopted a serving style which could easily be interpreted as 'doing you a favour'. The main menu and set meals are not reflected in the top table deal.
For amuse bouche, a small demitasse cup of leek and potatoe soup of mouthful quantity was served.
I was very brave and took it on trust that what was in there was not dead crane flies, but was probably a dried herb or vegetable.
For starter, I selected the morteau sausage salad. I asked the waiter to explain the nature of the dish, and he declined saying he had only been working there 3 days. The more senior Maitre d' came over and tried to explain that it could be hot or cold or luke warm, and on this occasion it was going to be cold. Fair enough. As long as I know what I am dealing with. Before the dish was delivered, he came back over, and said that as a special concession the chef would have it served warm.
This was actually very good, and it is a smoked garlic type sausage. You can find more about this kind of sausage on Internet, and it is a bit of a French specialism, but with no identifiable bits of animal. This was also, as described, luke-warm, but I had been warned.
For main course, I chose the chicken supreme
A small portion of well cooked chicken in jus, with rice and spinach. It was adequately hot at 8.2 on the CHOF scale.
For desert I chose the clemantine fool
This was an interesting mix of textures and strong flavours, and was very good. Sometimes fools are a bit like frothy mousse, but this was a smooth gelatinous mixture of excellent taste. Recommended.
My wife and I were not typical customers, as could be judged by who was in the house that night, and the staff did nothing to make us feel comfortable. They created an atmosphere of dominating proceedings and fussing over food in such a way that the only term I can think of is 'rectalism'. That does not mean for one moment that the meal was not excellent, as it was, but it was expensive for what it was once a bottle of wine was added (but representative of the location and type). The staff seated us out of the main atrium of the restaurant, which was probably a good thing, as we wanted to talk, and the atmosphere was adequately subdued. On atmosphere is scores very highly.
If you want to eat within spitting distance of the Bank this cannot be faulted for the quality of the food, but it helps if you pass the audition at the foyer.
My daughter has an eye for offers on Top Table, and choosing upper end restaurants. It was suggested that we would meet her and her boyfriend for dinner. As this restaurant brasserie is bang slap in the middle of the City, just by Bank station, it is not somewhere we would normally have chosen. Comments on TopTable say
"With an extraordinary domed ceiling by Pietro Agostini, the Brasserie at 1 Lombard Street is ideal for business and leisurely breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Our private room can be used for a variety of corporate and private events. Evenings have a unique atmosphere, with an unrivalled selection of cocktails and champagne. Authentic tapas and oriental bites can be enjoyed at the bar and surrounding intimate booths." You get the idea, and this is a place that is normally full of city types. I would not say it looked as if it were full of bankers, but judging by the papers carried, it might be legal and insurance types.
The restaurant's own web site says "Lombard Street is where the City meets for breakfast, lunch and dinner, launches new businesses, signs deals and celebrates profits. And it's even where the City gets married."
There is a web site which you can check out on http://www.1lombardstreet.com/ .
My wife and I were definitely the oldest people there, and the young staff seemed unused to dealing with suburban clients. They did not want us hanging around the entrance, and fiddled about before sitting us down.
The atmosphere is extremely good, and there was an exhibition called Destinies by Louis Boudreault. You can just about see this in the background. I picked up a price list, and you could buy one of the paintings for between £15000 to £38000. No doubt they would have put it on the bill and added a 12.5% service charge.
The top table menu is short (and there can be supplementary charges), and the staff probably are used to diners for whom a deal has another meaning. Like many London stylish eateries, they adopted a serving style which could easily be interpreted as 'doing you a favour'. The main menu and set meals are not reflected in the top table deal.
For amuse bouche, a small demitasse cup of leek and potatoe soup of mouthful quantity was served.
I was very brave and took it on trust that what was in there was not dead crane flies, but was probably a dried herb or vegetable.
For starter, I selected the morteau sausage salad. I asked the waiter to explain the nature of the dish, and he declined saying he had only been working there 3 days. The more senior Maitre d' came over and tried to explain that it could be hot or cold or luke warm, and on this occasion it was going to be cold. Fair enough. As long as I know what I am dealing with. Before the dish was delivered, he came back over, and said that as a special concession the chef would have it served warm.
This was actually very good, and it is a smoked garlic type sausage. You can find more about this kind of sausage on Internet, and it is a bit of a French specialism, but with no identifiable bits of animal. This was also, as described, luke-warm, but I had been warned.
For main course, I chose the chicken supreme
A small portion of well cooked chicken in jus, with rice and spinach. It was adequately hot at 8.2 on the CHOF scale.
For desert I chose the clemantine fool
This was an interesting mix of textures and strong flavours, and was very good. Sometimes fools are a bit like frothy mousse, but this was a smooth gelatinous mixture of excellent taste. Recommended.
My wife and I were not typical customers, as could be judged by who was in the house that night, and the staff did nothing to make us feel comfortable. They created an atmosphere of dominating proceedings and fussing over food in such a way that the only term I can think of is 'rectalism'. That does not mean for one moment that the meal was not excellent, as it was, but it was expensive for what it was once a bottle of wine was added (but representative of the location and type). The staff seated us out of the main atrium of the restaurant, which was probably a good thing, as we wanted to talk, and the atmosphere was adequately subdued. On atmosphere is scores very highly.
If you want to eat within spitting distance of the Bank this cannot be faulted for the quality of the food, but it helps if you pass the audition at the foyer.
Monday, 10 February 2014
Thomas Cubitt, Victoria: take a fat wallet
What is a gastropub? Is it a pub with a restaurant, or a restaurant with a pub. I guess probably the former. This is the modern way, and previously inexpensive simple pub food has been replaced by pretentious expensive less simple food with a waiter and a service charge.
I had previously dined at the Pantechnicon, the sister gastropub of the Thomas Cubbit, and knew more or less what to expect. You can be taken in by the web site on http://www.thethomascubitt.co.uk/home.html?pg=&txt=false My wife had told me that it was going to be expensive. This meal was a Sunday lunch for 7 people. I noted the occupancy, which was high. We went there on a Sunday lunchtime when the Cubitt was serving the bar menu in the Dining room which is upstairs
I ordered the fried squid, prawn and artichoke with a sweet chilli sauce which was excellent, but a fairly small serving.
What sounded plain turned out to be very tasty and fairly hot at a CHOF of 7.9
For main course I had the Sunday roast of Devon Lamb with trimmings. The trimmings were a delight, but the lamb was tough, chewy and inadequately hot for my taste. I estimate the CHOF at about 6.8 which is edible with diminished enjoyment.
Had I not been in very polite company, one of whom had selected the restaurant, I would have sent this back. For desert, I had the Chocolate and cherry roulade, which was big enough for two, of good consistency and delicious.
The wine list is good, but there is nothing under £20/ bottle, and by the glass it is about £8/glass which is expensive even for a big glass.
Our bill which included three bottles of not too expensive wine and a couple of glasses extra, a 12.5% service charge, no bread came to £47/per person. Quite frankly for what was a very basic meal with no cover on the table, no fancy water, and the second cheapest red wine on list, this is uberpricing in my opinion. Given that my roast meat was of poor quality (although no one else complained, and I was told the beef was ok) I felt that this was the worst side of gastropubbing, and cannot understand why they are packed. I know my views are not reflected elsewhere, but I would have thought a bit of roast leg of lamb was idiot proof.
On a slight tangent, I noted that the cost of a cup of coffee after the meal was £3. Given that the cost of goods for a cup of coffee in a bog standard coffee shop is only 9p, the margin is pretty phenomenal. Difficult to understand how they can justify the price, which is somewhat demotivational. It would have to be pretty amazing coffee.
Taste Restaurant at Fortina Spa, Malta: So good we kept going back
9th to 19th January.
I have reviewed the Fortina Spa hotel about a year ago, and the fact that we return here says something about the food, which is pretty good in the a la carte section of the hotel. If you go all inclusive in the hotel, you can use any of the restaurants from the a la carte menu's within your budget. Actually that is not exactly true, as the hotel seems to have sold off two of the restaurants as a franchise, the Indian and the Japanese. These now prefer proper paying customers, and the AI guest suffer a bit of discrimination. Firstly they can only use them with booking ahead (limit to the number of guests each day) and the menu you see is not the same one as the cash customers. We also saw the scenario that guests who had not booked were turned away even if the restaurant was empty. This is a strange thing, and given that they are in the hospitality business, this is not hospitable. Nevertheless, the food in all the restaurants except the Italian, which I will not go to, is excellent.
This review focuses on one restaurant, the Taste, which is the flagship Vietnamese Mediterranean fusion. This is probably one of the favourite restaurants for residents, and rightly so. We ate there several times over the period, and I will show some of the dishes. The restaurant has a fairly short menu of about 6 or 7 starters and the same for entree. This is supplemented by a special menu of the day which always has special starter and main including fish of the day. The desert menu, like many restaurants in Malta is poor with no variation, and during a week of staying and eating, you would have to repeat or even forego desert.
I have reviewed the Fortina Spa hotel about a year ago, and the fact that we return here says something about the food, which is pretty good in the a la carte section of the hotel. If you go all inclusive in the hotel, you can use any of the restaurants from the a la carte menu's within your budget. Actually that is not exactly true, as the hotel seems to have sold off two of the restaurants as a franchise, the Indian and the Japanese. These now prefer proper paying customers, and the AI guest suffer a bit of discrimination. Firstly they can only use them with booking ahead (limit to the number of guests each day) and the menu you see is not the same one as the cash customers. We also saw the scenario that guests who had not booked were turned away even if the restaurant was empty. This is a strange thing, and given that they are in the hospitality business, this is not hospitable. Nevertheless, the food in all the restaurants except the Italian, which I will not go to, is excellent.
This review focuses on one restaurant, the Taste, which is the flagship Vietnamese Mediterranean fusion. This is probably one of the favourite restaurants for residents, and rightly so. We ate there several times over the period, and I will show some of the dishes. The restaurant has a fairly short menu of about 6 or 7 starters and the same for entree. This is supplemented by a special menu of the day which always has special starter and main including fish of the day. The desert menu, like many restaurants in Malta is poor with no variation, and during a week of staying and eating, you would have to repeat or even forego desert.
Veal wrapped in ham
pasta with porcini mushrooms
fish and chips
By and large, the service is good, especially when they get to know you. Hotness is rarely an issue and most dishes scored between 8 and 8.8 but rarely hotter. As you can see, there is much arranging of food, and he appearance is critically important. On first glance, portion sizes are not big, but by the time you have had some bread, starter main and desert, there if plenty enough food. I had one occasion where there was some bone or plastic in a terrine, and I was immediately offered an alternate starter. It is easy to see why the place is popular.
It is difficult to put a price on the cost of a meal through all inclusive, but cash customers can pay an average of about 35 euros for a meal without drink. This is probably a bit on the high side, but it is the sort of price that the better restaurants in Malta are charging. I heard some complaints such as not enough white fish on the menu: there is a fresh fish of the day but salmon, tuna, shark and swordfish are quite common. One tip is that you can ask for chips rather than the sauteed potatoes that come by default, and very good they are too, an usually very hot.
Saturday, 4 January 2014
Bistro 1: a fair deal for new years eve
31st December
According to an article I read in the newspaper, 58% of people do not go out on New Years Eve. Given that they all cannot be throwing a party, that means that I am in the minority. I usually go somewhere, and for the past two years was away. However, hotels have worked out that they can charge premium prices for not so premium products, and this year I worked out that it might be a good idea to stay in London, and spend the difference on a bigger holiday later.
This year, we went to the Theatre to see The Duck House (very British Comedy), and preceded it by a very early dinner at Bistrot 1 in Southampton Street, just off The Strand. Check out their web site on http://bistro1.co.uk/ which actually pictures the relevant branch I think. I had field tested the restaurant for lunch some weeks before, and they do an excellent fixed price two course lunch for under a tenner. Despite the name, it is actually influenced by the Turkish bit of the Mediterranean, and food is a mix of Turkish, Italian, and other non-specific Mediterranean.I have found it to be a very satisfactory central London lunch venue.
For new years eve, they did away with the lunch menu, having a simpler limited offering of choices, doubled the price, and had a restricted choice all day long. Given what I have paid in the past, £21.95 per person for three courses with a glass of prosecco thrown in, on new year's eve in central London is not unreasonable. Given that the culinary delights around where I live in North London have been known the charge around the £50 mark, I am feeling that this was a fair price to pay. At 6.30, the place was full.
For starter, I had cold meze which had houmus, falafel, tzatsiki, kisir, pilaki, dolma and cheese borek
According to an article I read in the newspaper, 58% of people do not go out on New Years Eve. Given that they all cannot be throwing a party, that means that I am in the minority. I usually go somewhere, and for the past two years was away. However, hotels have worked out that they can charge premium prices for not so premium products, and this year I worked out that it might be a good idea to stay in London, and spend the difference on a bigger holiday later.
This year, we went to the Theatre to see The Duck House (very British Comedy), and preceded it by a very early dinner at Bistrot 1 in Southampton Street, just off The Strand. Check out their web site on http://bistro1.co.uk/ which actually pictures the relevant branch I think. I had field tested the restaurant for lunch some weeks before, and they do an excellent fixed price two course lunch for under a tenner. Despite the name, it is actually influenced by the Turkish bit of the Mediterranean, and food is a mix of Turkish, Italian, and other non-specific Mediterranean.I have found it to be a very satisfactory central London lunch venue.
For new years eve, they did away with the lunch menu, having a simpler limited offering of choices, doubled the price, and had a restricted choice all day long. Given what I have paid in the past, £21.95 per person for three courses with a glass of prosecco thrown in, on new year's eve in central London is not unreasonable. Given that the culinary delights around where I live in North London have been known the charge around the £50 mark, I am feeling that this was a fair price to pay. At 6.30, the place was full.
For starter, I had cold meze which had houmus, falafel, tzatsiki, kisir, pilaki, dolma and cheese borek
This is very Turkish in flavour, and there were bread and olives on the table. This was a substantial helping. As the light in the restaurant was both low and very orange, the colours are a bit distorted. For main I had the grilled mixed shish, which came with rice and salad
This was helped along with a dollop of their chilli sauce, but scored a 9 on the CHOF and was extremely well cooked and presented. No complaints here, but some of the lamb was more chewy than other bits. At least it showed authenticity.
For desert, I had the well known Turkish delicacy of Banofee Pie, which claimed to be home made.
Top marks for effort here.
Knowing that it is a sellers' market in London on new year's eve, and the only places that do not hike up their prices and lower standards are typically the Chinese, Indian and low end chains e.g. Pizza Hut, we came out of that thinking 'pretty good'. I will definitely be going again for lunch. The particular branch in Southampton Street is highly convenient for the theatres of Strand and Covent Garden, and seems to be open all day.
A sprout is not just for Christmas
25th December.
This posting is not about the hotness of food for once, nor a restaurant, but about the much maligned sprout and the home grown vegetable. Previously on this blog, I have displayed the wonders of my home grown Cauliflowers. This year as a challenge and something to generate a sense of wonder, I have grown my own sprouts. I will admit that I did not germinate them, and bought a strip of Sprout sprouts from B and Q. I also planted Romanesco brocolli which were grown from seeds.
Not may people know that sprouts come on trees, and in fact, when we said we were going to give one of our friends a sprout tree, they wanted to know how to look after it.
This is what the trees looked like in-situ in late December.
This posting is not about the hotness of food for once, nor a restaurant, but about the much maligned sprout and the home grown vegetable. Previously on this blog, I have displayed the wonders of my home grown Cauliflowers. This year as a challenge and something to generate a sense of wonder, I have grown my own sprouts. I will admit that I did not germinate them, and bought a strip of Sprout sprouts from B and Q. I also planted Romanesco brocolli which were grown from seeds.
Not may people know that sprouts come on trees, and in fact, when we said we were going to give one of our friends a sprout tree, they wanted to know how to look after it.
This is what the trees looked like in-situ in late December.
As the year wears on the lower leaves drop off, and leave what is sometimes called 'Brussel tops' with the sprouts underneath. This is what the complete stalk looks like after cutting the stem. The sprouts are a little smaller than those that are shop bought, but it was a miserable growing season on my patch. There were some signs of nibbling from pests (looked like very small slugs, which washed away) and I had seen birds pecking at the tops.
I can assure you that these home grown sprouts are in a league of their own. They have a chestnut-like flavour and keep and cook well. There was more than enough from two stalks for our Xmas lunch and I have enough left on the the rest of the season.
The brocolli has not been such a resounding success with the edible bits looking a bit puny, but I have nothing to compare it with.
They have a wonderful geometrical pattern to the tops which the mathematicians will be able to explain to me.My celeriacs were definitely smaller than the ones in the shop.
A poor crop, but very tasty.
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