Plum and Spilt Milk: upmarket treat

10th September 2018
My wife and I were given an outing to this newish restaurant as a birthday gift. It seems that at our stage of life, experiences rather than stuff is the way to go.
Many years ago, my boss had used the meeting rooms at the Great Northern Hotel as a base for organising London meetings because they were cheap and available. The hotel has been greatly revamped since then, and I dare say that would not be the case now. It is completely unrecognisable compared to 25 years ago. This is not a place we would have chosen to go, mainly on grounds of expense, but as it was a gift, we said thank you very much and boarded the Picadilly line.
The restaurant follows modern trends being fairly open, hard surfaces, and staff who can border between patronising and obsequious. At the time of visiting, there was major work going on in the hotel which limited the routes of entrance or egress, but the main consequence of this at the moment is that there are no accessible lavatories near the restaurant.
This is what the restaurant has to say for itself (from website)
"SIMPLE CLASSICS, BEAUTIFULLY COOKED
COURTESY OF HIGHLY ACCLAIMED CHEF MARK SARGEANT, IN AN ATMOSPHERE ELEGANT YET RELAXED
Theatrical destination restaurant Plum + Spilt Milk, celebrated for the quality of its seasonal British dishes. Our new menu includes Wild watercress soup, wild garlic oil & sourdough croutons; Wye Valley asparagus feuilleté, orange hollandaise sauce; Organic Wiltshire burrata, broad bean puree, pickled red onion, chilli, pine nuts & raw rapeseed oil; Grilled lamb cutlets, roasted & wild garlic creamed spelt, slow braised lamb shoulder & mint sauce croquette.

One hundred and fifty hand-blown glass lamps suspended from the ceiling set the atmosphere; leather banquettes curve luxuriously around tables of cracked black lava".

Nuff said.

For starter I chose Spiced Cornish fish soup, red pepper rouille & croutons. This was a winner. It was really really hot, about a 9+ on the CHOF scale. It was only mildly spiced, and the red pepper relish, which I rightly or wrongly chose to add to the soup, made for an interesting taste.

This was a good choice, and if the opportunity presented, I would definitely do it again.
The choice, as I mentioned before is limited, and for the main course I chose a flatiron steak, not really knowing what to expect

They had turned down the lights by then and it started to get tricky to take pictures.

I asked for my meat to be medium, but not bloody, and I think that they followed my instructions. The dish came accompanied by triple cooked chips

You get nine large chips in a dish.......... and I also had some mixed vegetables.
Desert comes from a pairing menu, but I decided not to pair my desert with a wine.
I had  iced peanut parfait, chocolate ganache with salted caramel sauce.

At first glance, it looked a bit like a deconstructed Snickers bar, and as I love Snickers, it was pleasing to find it tasted similar, particularly as I like to keep my Snickers in the refrigerator.

I am off wine at the moment, but the wine list has house white and red which are realistically priced. I finished with a coffee which was excellent.

The meal was of excellent quality as one would expect, and what was supposed to be hot was actually hot. No problems there, but of course, medium steaks may not always be hotter than they are supposed to be.

I have no idea what this meal cost, but you can probably work it out from on line.

My only criticism would be that the place was very noisy to start with, with braying businessmen creating a non-intimate atmosphere. However that is a sign of the times, and almost every modern restaurant one goes to is unsuitable for a deep conversation. That is probably why you see so many diners texting each other during meals. To help that, all tables here had charging points and USB sockets. A sign of the times.

The Haven Bistro and Bar, Whetstone: very popular local eating place

1st September 2018
I have eaten at the Haven several times and also organised to celebration dinners there in their semi-private room. It is probably one of the best places to get decent food in Whetstone, and over the 17 or so years I have been using it, the standards have remained constant, and it is fair value for money. It also serves bar food if you don't want a full meal.
I have also used it for a set lunch which was fantastic value for money.
On this occasion, we had to go on a Saturday night, to offer hospitality to a family member, and it won the choice competition of where to go on a Saturday night. It gets busy on a Saturday night, and you must book. I would not chance turning up there without a reservation, but because the owner, Julius knows me as a long term customer, he says he would always fit me in.
On this occasion the menu had changed from its long term pattern, and instead of being a sort of fixed price shortish menu, it had gone a la carte. So instead of my usual bang bang chicken starter, which I always found to be the best choice for me, I had the salt and pepper Calamari

This is not a true reflection of what came, as I had given my wife a couple of rings, and clearly had some of the dish before I started. Suffice it to say that this was a very generous starter portion and not the measly 5 rings out of a bag of frozen that so many restaurants stoop to.
It was well cooked soft and satisfying. It was also hot scoring an 8.4 on the CHOF scale. Recommended.
For main, I had the pan fried lamb liver.

It had a piece of bacon on it, and it was only when I downloaded the photo from my phone that I saw that it almost had a porcine face appearance: weird. I had asked for my liver to be cooked so that it was no longer bloody, which is my preference, and that was exactly how it came. It was exactly right. The only comment I would make is that it was promoted as coming with baby spinach, and the green vegetable it came with was a kind of cabbage or kale. No matter, as the liver was great. It also scored well on the CHOF scale at about an 8.3.
I did not bother with a desert, but had a coffee in a strange Germanic cup.
This was a good experience, and we emerged thinking that it had beed a good place to offer hospitality. The bill came to £125 for three of us, but there were only two glasses of wine, two coffees and two deserts, so expect to pay £50 per head for a full meal with drink.
The down side is that it gets very busy on Saturday night, and with its hard-surface decor, it can be difficult to hear. As much of the clientele being the comfortable retired of the area, who may already be on the way to hearing impairment, I am guessing there were some raised voices.

Nippon Izakaya, North Finchley: Consistency needed if this place is to survive

I have been to this Japanese Restaurant, usually at weekends, twice before, and it really hit the spot. Good food at a fair price, and what was supposed to be hot was actually hot.
I recently went at 8pm on a Wednesday towards the end of August and it did not live up to expectations in many ways: so much so, that I might give it a miss in the future.
There is a web site on https://www.nipponizakaya.co.uk/ and it tells you that it is a non-chain Japanese restaurant in North Finchley. Strangely enough there are quite a few to choose from in the area, and given that the Japanese are long departed from Woodside Park/Finchley, it can only be because of the popularity of Sushi (which I do not like). However it serves hot food, which in the past has been great.
On this occasion there were five of us, and we ordered nothing clever from the menu. The staff seemed confused by their own menu and actually one of our party failed initially to get any food despite the fact that the place was not especially busy. My wife and I ordered bento boxes, she having a tempura one, and mine being a grilled salmon and beef mixture. The portions are big, and there was a taster portion of miso soup provided before.
The food arrived only moderately hot, scoring no better than a 7 on the CHOF scale. However the included rice was almost cold. There was absolutely no point in complaining, as clearly these people had lost the plot on the night we visited and our lives are too short to wait for a re-run of preparation.
On previous occasions, we have been awarded a 10% discount (even at weekends) but some weak reason was found why we were not eligible this time.
At 10p.m. without actually saying the words, they were trying to turf us out. They have longer hours on a weekend.
If you are not a drinker, the food is reasonably priced, but when hotness is a factor, then no price is right if the food doesn't meet expectations. Our friend who suggested the visit ( he has a well filled loyalty card) was apologetic, and thought the real staff might have been on holiday.
The morals to this story are that August is a problematic month to eat out in the 'burbs of London, and that consistency of delivered product is what generates loyal customers.

Dec 2024. I update this review to say that I have been several times after this review, and the restaurant, having been through a food hygeine scare, is now back on track, and is serving consistently good meals at a reasonable price.

Ninova Restaurant, East Barnet. Competent Turkish local with bizarre decoration

26th June 2017
After a long break, where most of my reviews have been on TripAdvisor, I bring you something new and local and more fitting to my blog.
I have noticed this newish local Turkish located in central East Barnet where a bakery used to be.
Initially the reviews were a bit unsupportive, but now they are more consistently positive. I went there with my wife and a friend for an informal meal on a Monday night. I had had a look in there on other week nights, and it had not seemed crowded, but even so, we booked.
The web site http://www.ninova-restaurant.co.uk/  gives the menu and seems more orientated to selling takeaway. There is very little info about the actual restaurant. It is easy to find, and there is no problem with on-street parking in the evening. Also plenty of unrestricted side streets.
The first things that strike you are the size: I did not count the place settings, but it looks as if they could probably seat about 100 persons with some tables which could easily take an 8. The interior decor is a bit bizarre with plaster relief scenes which range from Babylonian hunting scenes and Assyrian soldiers like you might see in the British Museum, the statue of Liberty, Mosta Bridge, and most bizarrely a native-American hunting scene. All adds to the ambience.
On a Monday night, a few tables were taken, but I cannot say if it gets full at weekends.
The menu is fairly short and bog-standard stuff. There is little in the way of clever or inventive Turkish food here. The pricing is slightly over the local average.
We shared a cold mixed meze starter which came with humus, tarama, tzatsiki, cold vegetables and stuffed vine leaves. This was served with bread and a mixed salad. Good size portion, big enough for three sharing for £14.50.
My companions had chicken and lamb skewer kebabs for main (which I tasted and were of excellent quality), but I had Lamb Beyti.

Unlike other beytis I have had, the yoghourt was on the bottom, and was flavoured with mint. This was a fair size portion, but it could have been with being a bit hotter, scoring only a 7 on the CHOF scale. If we had not been with company, I might have thought about returning it, but as the fashion in some Turkish restaurants is to serve luke warm food, I made my mind up that when we returned here, which we will, the most expedient solution is to tell them up-front that my expectation is for food to be hot. My party also reported that their kebabs were not so hot, so it wasn't just me. I think that this raises a key point, that if you want hot food, it is fair to warn restaurants at the point of ordering that this is your expectation. An unsolicited plate of sweet water melon was offered to customers.
All in all, despite the temperature, this was a good choice, and we would go there again. The staff wer fairly helpful and the weird decor cannot be beaten.
A meal for three including a shared starter, 3 mains, two beers and a soft drink came to £58 without service. This seemed like fair value.

UPDATE DEC 2024. NOW CLOSED

Mirage Restaurant, Ilford/Newbury Park: very popular local restaurant with shortcomings.

9th December 2016
December is never the best time to judge a restaurant as they are inevitably overstretched and know that it is a sellers' market. We got involved with an outing here because a friend of a friend had a husband who was providing the musical entertainment. I am always game for a Turkish Restaurant, but the menu is far more extensive than just Turkish. I would also re-iterate my opinion that it is difficult to give a fair judgement when large parties are being served. But it was what it was, and here is my opinion. Their web site is on http://www.miragerestaurant-ilford.com/ which makes it look more like a wedding venue.
The menu is mixed and the Turkish side of it is a bit unchallenging, being mainly mainstream kebabs and moussaka etc, even on the halal menu. It is more of a Meditteranean/Continental menu, which is probably responding to the needs of the local customers, of which there were many. In retrospect, I should have chosen the steaks, because that is what they seem to get most accolades for.
For starter, I had the Calamari with salad.

They were satisfactory and hot scoring an 8.6 on the CHOF scale. What should be evident even from this blurry picture is that this is the boring side of calamari. Nothing challenging here.

Given that we were a 7.30 kick off, this picture is time stamped at 9pm. I really have nothing more to say about them.

For main course, mainly because I knew I would be getting a real Green Lane Turkish experience the following night, I went for the "CALF LIVER LYONAISE 

PAN-FRIED WITH SAUTÉED, ONIONS FLAMED WITH MADERIA WINE". Not very Turkish. This actually would have been something from an Italian Trattoria.

I had this with an accompaniment of cauliflower cheese and sauté zucchini. The cauliflower cheese was a bit of disappointment as it was clearly boiled cauli that had been put in an oven dish, and then a lay of cheesy sauce poured over, and then put back in the oven. Not really what I would have hoped for. The liver was fine, if not a tiny bit on the rubbery side. This main course was time stamped at 2158, meaning there was a gap of an hour between starter and main which could not be compensated for by the efforts of the male crooner singing to his rat-pack backing tapes. I can't wait until punk becomes the music of yesteryear that we all want to hear.

I was luckier than one of our group, who seemed to have been forgotten altogether, and was made to feel that it was his fault for not ordering in a way that the staff would take notice of. I really don't care for it when any restaurant makes their problems your problem, and then expect to put 10% service or more on the bill.

Whilst the house red was reasonably priced at £12.50/bottle, they did not bother to take the sticker off which said 'retail price £4'. So they were selling very cheap wine.

Others had a mixed experience with some meals better than mine and some worse. The key issue was poor service, and lacklustre food. However judging from the full house, it looked as if it was a crowd that knew what they wanted, and it was not challenging food, and not really caring how long it took to come.

I would avoid going there again at a weekend. May be it is better during a quiet week.

Three Jolly Wheelers, Woodford Green : Formulaic 'gastro' pub with strong following

7th December 2016
A cousins' lunch had been long in the planning, and it was left for one of the others to choose a venue. I have some favourite pub lunch destinations, but it seems to me that some of the chains have got a bit out of hand presenting themselves as up-market destinations with restaurant prices. I was fascinated when I arrived here, as the menu appeared in wording and pricing almost identical to the menu at the recently visited Old White Lion. At least I thought I knew what I might be in for. What you do not get is a 'pub lunch' but you do get pub prices for drink. Interestingly the Three Jolly Wheelers, whilst a 'Vintage Inn' is own by the same umbrella company, Mitchell and Butler and more detail can be found on http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/restaurants/london/thethreejollywheelerschigwell .
For starter I chose the salt and pepper calamari with chorizo-flavour seasoning and chipotle mayonnaise

This was pretty good and hot enough at an 8.4 on the CHOF scale. However what is apparent is that this is a triumph of style over quantity and is drowned out by the relatively inedible green leaves and a surfeit of unnecessary chipottle (sic) mayo and not a lot of discernible seasoning.

Just to be different, I did not choose the fish and chips for main, but the Steak & mushroom pie

(described as slow-cooked British beef in a red wine sauce, topped with puff pastry, served with mash and seasonal vegetables, £11.50).

This was not so much a pie, but more a dish of stewed beef covered with a pastry lid with some tired carrots. This is presumably the outcome of corporate boil in the bag supplies of pie filling and is not really the stuff of pies of pub lunches that I yearn for. It was very hot (a 9 on the CHOF scale) but tasted a bit bland.

All in all this was a bland packaged meal, and I guess I am always looking for something a bit more challenging in a pub lunch. I was spoiled by my numerous experiences at the King's Arms in Bexley near where I used to work.

My wife had a slightly more expensive meal, and by the time the bill came, for a 'pub' lunch for two, it came to nearly £50.

Whilst the food was hot enough, it was all a bit bland and corporately uninteresting and this was not the sort of hit I had expected for a mid week pub lunch.

I will not be going back there in a hurry: I can get far better far cheaper: a pub lunch should not cost £25 per head.

UPDATE NOV 2024. I WAS COERCED INTO GOING BACK TO THIS RESTAURANT, AND WITHOUT REALISING IT HAD THE SAME MEAL. THE PIE WAS NOW CALLED PIE. THE CONTENTS WERE LARGELY GRISTLE, AND THE RESTAURANT STAFF, WHO REALLY COULDNT CARE LESS, TOLD ME THAT WAS HOW THE MEAT CAME. I COMPLAINED, AND IT WAS TAKEN OFF THE BILL (COSTS SUBSTANTIALLY MORE NOW). I WILL NOT BE GOING BACK THERE AGAIN. REVIEWED ON TRIPADVISOR.

Bleeding Heart: Trendy smart Clerkenwell Restaurant with consistent reputation.

2nd December 2015
If you had to choose a name for a Restaurant, would you choose Bleeding Heart, especially if you had a vegetarian to feed? The name relates to the location which is in Bleeding Heart Yard.
According to wikipedia, Bleeding Heart Yard is a cobbled courtyard off Greville Street in the Farringdon area of the City of London. The courtyard is probably named after a 16th-century inn sign dating back to the Reformation that was displayed on a pub called the Bleeding Heart in nearby Charles Street. The sign showed the heart of the Virgin Mary pierced by five swords.
Urban legend has it that the courtyard's name commemorates the murder of Lady Elizabeth Hatton, the second wife of Sir William Hatton, whose family formerly owned the area around Hatton Garden. It is said that her body was found here on 27 January 1626, "torn limb from limb, but with her heart still pumping blood." The location is mentioned in Little Dorrit as the home of the Plornish Family.
I have been there a few times over the years both to the restaurant and bistro. Fortunately this has always been with someone else footing the bill.
The restaurant is old fashioned higgledy piggeldy looking more like a converted house on different levels, and the main eating areas are downstairs.
It is now a groupe and has a web presence on   http://bleedingheart.co.uk/ . It says it is French, but the food is more French influenced than pure French. Reports on TripAdvisor are consistently good.
The meal started with an amuse bouche of a piece of smoked mackerel (I think) on a sliver of bread. Not very amusing as one of our party did not eat fish.
For starter, I had the cauliflower soup:

Not a very helpful image, as the flash went off on my phone. However, it was hot, and as can probably be discerned from the picture, was home made. The soup comes in a little pouring pot, and the waiters make a ritual of pouring it into the plate. Anyway it was a good 8.6 on the CHOF scale and was an excellent representative of such soup.

For main course I had haunch of Yorkshire venison with Juniper braised venison cheeks, ruby plums, roasted red chicory and elderberry sauce

It also came with mashed potato and I had a side order of spinach.

The meat was cooked very well, and was tender and tasty and scored an 8.4 being hot enough on the CHOF scale. The helping of spinach was huge.

This was an excellent meal (I shared someone else's desert) and another good experience here.

If you look at the web site, it is clear that this is pretty upmarket, and you could easily expect to pay £80-100 per person for a three course meal with drink. I did not get to see the wine list at the time, but the web site shows it to be comprehensive, and house wine (not that most people were drinking that) would be about £25/bottle.

I would recommend this restaurant but it is not for routine eating unless you have deep pockets and very high standards.