Sparrow, Lewisham

Lentil vada, coconut chutney

On Sunday night we went to Sparrow in Lewisham for Becks' birthday. We've wanted to go since they opened but morning sickness and a baby had got in the way until now.

The menu is an eclectic mix of Italian, Indian and south east Asian influences with some French and north African flavours sprinkled in to. It sounds like it could be a car crash. Can one kitchen really pull off all those different flaovurs in a cohesive way? I'm pleased to say, as it was a birthday dinner, yes they can.

Burrata, slow cooked courgettes

It was difficult to pick a favourite from the mains. The green risotto still had incredible bite but there was no hint of chalkiness and the pine nuts sprinkled on top had been toasted deeply adding a great flavour. How did they manage to toast them that darkly without burning them?

The vada, burrata and lamb were all dishes I'd order again too. Already being full we shouldn't have ordered dessert but did the lure of sugar drew us in. They didn't feel up to the level of the main courses but it's a bit unfair to judge them when we were so full.

It took us a long time to get to Sparrow, but hopefully we'll organiser another babysitter and be back sooner next time.

Green risotto, pine nuts, perroche

Slow cooked lamb, polenta, carrots

Ginger loaf and butterscotch sauce

Mont Blanc

Sparrow
2 Rennell Street,

London

SE13 7HD

Afternoon Tea at the Langham Hotel

Palm Court at the Langham Hotel

Last weekend we decided to go for afternoon tea at the Langham Hotel. It is one of the more expensive options in London, but not excessively so and it also gave us the chance to try some of Cherish Finden's baking. Considering how brutal her judging is on Bake Off Creme de la Creme, surely it must be good?

We spend a very pleasant three hours sitting in their afternoon tea room, listening to the piano being played and being well looked after. Pro tip, ask for a cushion to put behind your back as their seats are quite deep.

Selection of sandwiches

Rather than being given a tiered cake stand and letting you get on with it, you are each served a plate of sandwiches, followed by warm scones and then a plate of cakes. We were offered additional sandwiches and scones before our plates were cleared at the end of each 'course', but there was no way we could fit any extras in.

I'm only a very occasional tea drinker, but it appears they take their teas seriously with several exclusive blends. They brew the tea before bringing it to your table, which has the upside that you don't get an over stewed pot, but the downside that your tea can take quite a while to arrive.

Plain and fruit scones

From the sandwiches the classic ‘prawn cocktail’, iceberg, potato bun, tomato powder was my favourite. Becks isn't a big prawn fan so I got to have two.

For me the stand out cake was the Rikakaka - Crunchy sable, tonka and orange cream, fresh cherries (bottom centre in the photo below).

Cake selection

Noak revisted, Brockley

The Quite Healthy

In my first blog post about Noak I wrote that it "makes me want to love it and pull my hair out in almost equal measure." The food we've tried has always been pretty  good, it was just the service that was letting the place down.

We visited again a couple weeks ago and we were greeted when we arrived, shown to a table, given menus, our order was taken and then the food arrived after a perfectly acceptable wait. They had a generous number of staff working and an order of service seems to have been established, making a big difference to our enjoyment of the café. I know it sounds basic, but previously it wasn't always the case.

I had the 'Quite Healthy'. A bowl of halloumi, avocado, home made beans, roasted tomatoes, sourdough, courgette ribbons and an egg cooked to your liking (£10.50). All of the components were well done and the two thick slices of sourdough were a welcome filling addition.

Noak felt like it was on the way to being the café we all hoped it would be when they first opened, so it was a shame that is wasn't full on a Saturday lunchtime. If, like us, others have previously been put off, hopefully they too will give Noak another try.

Noak
209–211 Mantle Road
Brockley
London 

SE4 2EW

Archies Bar, Deptford Market Yard

The newly opened Deptford Market Yard

Last weekend Becks and I popped down to the newly opened Deptford Market Yard for a spot of lunch. The approach to the station has been completely transformed by the new, wide public square and the railway arches which have been converted into small business units. Even on a slightly dreary and damp day the area was looking good.

There are a few options for lunch and we selected Archie's for some grilled cheese sandwiches.

Queso Fundido and chorizo

We completely over ordered and I spent the rest of the day in a pleasant cheese coma.

Of the savoury dishes we chose my favourite was the posh cheese and onion toastie that is made with Keen's cheddar, ogleshield and onion. You could definitely taste the quality of the cheese which has been grilled until it came oozing out of our sandwich.

Goats cheese toastie

The highlight though, without doubt, was the ricotta cheesecake. It was unlike any other cheesecake that I've had before being much softer and creamier. Unlike most ricotta cheesecakes I'm guessing that it hadn't been baked. It came in a delightfully generous slice too, but something tasting this good can't be good for you....

Posh cheddar and onion

The staff were super friendly and they have fitted out the small railway arch well. The short menu is full on cheese so make sure you, and all of your party, are in the mood for cheese before you go as there aren't any options besides cheese, cheese and more glorious cheese.

Ricotta cheesecake

Archie's Bar London
Deptford Market Yard
London
SE8

The Ledbury, a reprise, Notting Hill

Venison balls

During our week off in early June, Becks and I decided to book lunch at The Ledbury after our beautiful meal there three years ago (is it really that long?).

The service had the same relaxed but incredibly attentive vibe and the food was of course excellent again. My highlights being the crab and tomato soup, the guinea fowl thigh from the main and the Sauternes cream dessert. 

Last time we had wine by the glass, but this time we decided to share the the wine pairings. (I generally avoid the matching wines as they leave me wasted and take away my enjoyment of the food.) There were some unusual selections in the paired wines, enabling us to try some things we'd never have chosen for ourselves and they all matched the food brilliantly.

Entertainment came from the table next to us who were out celebrating a birthday. The daughter was down from Leeds Uni for the day and was proudly telling the rest of the family about her extensive international travel plans. Does she do any studying? Where does the money come from? All the father wanted to make sure was they the chef knew he considered his main course "historic".

The food and service may have been as excellent as the first time, but some standards are slipping at The Ledbury: the gents' loos no longer have Aesop hand wash and moisturiser. What is a man to do?

Crab and tomato soup

Sourdough

Stream broccoli with mussells and a mussell bisque

Guinea fowl with white asparagus and almonds

Sauterne cream with apricots and an apricot ice cream

Petit fours and mint tea

The Ledbury
127 Ledbury Rd
London
W11 2AQ

The Pickled Fork at the Grosvenor Arms, Earlsfield

Asparagus with sheep's milk cheese, peas and Jersey Royal vinaigrette

Last Wednesday night I was the guest of Go Earlsfield who invited me out to dinner at the newly refurbished Grosvenor Arms on Garratt Lane in Earlsfield. The pub has only been open for five weeks following a change of ownership and refurbishment. The pub certainly looks brighter following the renovations and the new team are very friendly (with crushingly firm handshakes), but the place still needs a few finishing touches / pictures on the wall before you could call it properly homely.

We were there for a collaboration with the Pickled Fork, a local catering company, who put on a couple of pop up dinners in the upstairs of the pub last week.

Barbecued octopus with broad bean hummus

There was live jazz and a glass of prosecco to greet us in the bar downstairs before we all headed up to the restaurant on the first floor. I was very pleasantly surprised by all of the food which had subtlety and an interesting combination of flavours in every dish. Reading the menu it would be easy to think they were trying a bit hard, but everything worked together really well.

The starter was new season asparagus with smoked Sussex sheep's cheese, raw peas and a Jersey Royal vinaigrette. Are there really potatoes in the vinaigrette? There did seem to be and it created a subtle and creamy texture. If I had to split hairs, one of the spears of asparagus was cold and it would have been much better at room temperature allowing the flavours to come out more.

Pulled lamb's belly with spelt pitta and tabouleh

My favourite dish was the middle course of barbecued octopus, broad bean hummus, nduja, pickled chicory and dukkha. The octopus was tender and lifted by the spice of the nduja and pickled chicory. The balance of soft and crunchy textures worked well.

Before our mains we were treated to a song by Elsa Hackett who appeared to be a friend of the two jazz players and was also dining in the pub. A young jazz singer who is studying at the Guildhall School of Music, there was something of the Amy Winehouse about her voice. A very good singer indeed.

Strawberry pavlova with a basil syrup

When our main of pulled lamb's belly on a fermented spelt pitta, with spelt tabbouleh and roast garlic yoghurt came out I thought it was a bit on the small side for a main, but I was forgetting I was three courses in at this point and it filled me up perfectly. The lamb and tabbouleh were great. The pitta was more robust than your average pitta, but then it can't be easy making them out of spelt. I finished GE's dish which tells you all you need to know.

The dessert was a strawberry pavlova with elderflower, nyetimber and basil syrup. If I'm honest I'm still unsure what nyetimber is!

The Grosvenor Arms
204 Garratt Lane

London

SW18 4ED

Queen's, Camberwell

Charred hispi cabbage and asparagus

We first properly met Mike, the owner and chef behind Queen's in Camberwell, at his excellent supper club back in 2012. I've had a soft spot for his great cooking and strong desire to use local and sustainable ingredients ever since.

Like quite a few other people, we joined the incredible surge of donations in the dying hours of his Kickstarter project last year to help Mike open his own restaurant. We were in New Zealand when the restaurant opened last year so exchanged our ticket to the opening party for a voucher at the restaurant that we used on Saturday night.

Flat bread and harissa oil at Queens in Camberwell

Between the three of us we were able to order all but one dish on the menu which gave us an excellent opportunity to see what Queen's was all about. As expected there were lots of seasonal ingredients with new season asparagus, peas, cabbages and salads heavy on the menu. The grill is heavily used with lots of charred dishes and in line with their street food stall there are quite a few homemade pickles on the menu.

Kent asparagus manti 

My favourite dishes included the home made flat bread, a signature from their street food stall. Charred and rubbed in spices it was a great start.

Next up was another favourite, the charred hispi cabbage and asparagus with garlic, mustard and fresh cheese. The dish might have been a little oily for some, but I really liked the new season asparagus.

The whole juicy grilled plaice came with vividly coloured beetroot borani (yoghurt dip) and an amazingly smokey spring onion. It tasted like the most intensely smoked aubergine I've ever had.

Photos of the other dishes we sampled, none of which put a foot wrong, are included above and below.

Rounding off the meal was a single scoop of dark chocolate sorbet. I'm not usually one for chocolate ice creams but I really liked this version which came with charred oranges (the grill even gets used in for the desserts!), cocoa nibs and nuts.

Rosehip and star anise marinated pork belly with raddichio

At £98 for the three of us, including a bottle of wine, I thought the meal was good value. The restaurant manager was welcoming and on top of all the restaurant comings and goings. The rest of the staff were friendly and helpful, although it was a little uncoordinated when we were asked three times if we had ordered drinks and our table could have used a wipe before desserts came out too.

Camberwell is definitely lucky to have Queen's and it seems inexplicable to me that they aren't as busy as nearby Silk Road or Theo's pizza. I'm sure it won't be long before the locals are queueing here too.

Whole plaice

Fried potatoes with harissa and seaweed aioli

Marinated lake district lamb, carrots and pickles

Dark chocolate tart and dark chocolate sorbet

Queen's
45 Camberwell Church Street

London

SE5 8TR

An afternoon in Crystal Palace and a re-visit to 161 Food + Drink in Kirkdale

Eggs and beans at 161 Food + Drink, Kirkdale 

On Good Friday we took advantage of the early spring sunshine and spent the afternoon exploring Crystal Palace. A slightly random choice, but it is one of the parks that we've been vaguely wanting to visit for a while and it turned out to be a rather lovely afternoon.

We started by catching the train to Sydenham for lunch at 161 Food + Drink in Kirkdale that we have visited before. A small little café / coffee shop it has a nice atmosphere and tasty food for a light lunch (although having done a 17km that morning I wasn't sure that a light lunch was what I was looking for!).

Dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park

After lunch we walked across to Crystal Palace park for a look round. To the best of my knowledge, I've only visited the park once before, on an early morning run three years ago. I was a bit fearful of getting lost at the time and I now realise that I only saw around half the park on my previous visit.

The playgrounds were very busy and one of the first things that struck me was a huge diversity of languages that we heard. English was very much in a minority. It made me realise in Brockley, only a short distance away, we hear comparatively few other languages.

We started with a walk round the lower half of the park which was dominated by families and the dinosaurs.

Transmitter

Escaping the crowds we walked up to the top of the park and the half that I hadn't visited before. Overlooked by the transmitter, there were two giant terraces which I presume is whether the 'crystal palace' was originally built. The faux classical stone work dividing the two terraces is in a poor state of repair and lots of it was fenced off preventing you from getting too close.

We also found the sphinx that is going to be incorporated into the stained glass design on our new front door.

Sphinx

Leaving the park we headed to Crystal Palace Antiques for a look round and to see if we could find anything for the new house. Thankfully there wasn't too much that we wanted to buy. We did see a couple of clocks that we liked and rather than making a rash purchase decided to go and have a drink (and in my case a second lunch to mull it over). Checking out one of the clocks on the internet we discovered that we could buy it more cheaply online so didn't return to the antiques centre. Another example of the internet killing the high street!

On the way home we caught a bus which had a broken card reader so I got to travel for free. A winning end to a rather pleasant afternoon in the spring sunshine.

Dinner at the Skylark Café, Wandsworth Common, Earlsfield

"Snowman" dessert

On Wednesday night we went to the Skylark Café on Wandsworth Common. The café is best known as a day time social hub of the park, but we were there for their special Festive Supper. The café started serving dinner a couple of nights a month earlier this year and it is something they plan to carry on next year.

I was really impressed with the set menu we ate on the night (a vegetarian version was available). The food was far more inventive than I was expecting and was cooked and presented with real flair. Don't be fooled, as I was, by the daytime café fully of buggies, this was a real restaurant experience.

Pea arancini, quail & cod scotch egg, golden beetroot 

As an appetiser we were brought plate of tasty morsels and home made bread to share. The olive crumb, which was like a freeze dried tapenade, and the golden beetroot with goats cheese, truffle and fennel were my two favourites on the place which also included pea arancini on a purée and the soft yolk quail and cod scotch egg.

Home made bread

I love my bread so enjoyed the wholemeal rye sourdough and white sourdough with a salted crust.

Lobster & cod, kohlrabi and potato glass

Our starter was lobster and cod with hazelnut, kohlrabi and potato glass. The cod was perfectly cooked and I really enjoyed the accompanying bisque. The amount of lobster was limited but that isn't unreasonable with a set menu of such good value.

Venison two ways with salt baked celeriac

The main course was venison cooked two ways with salt baked celeriac, pink peppercorns and bitter leaves. It was another dish that I really enjoyed. The salt baked celeriac was, just, a little under cooked for my tastes. However, the venison was well cooked and the jus was excellent.

The star of the evening was undoubtedly the "Snowman" dessert, cutest dish you'll see this festive season. The head of the snowman was made from pistachio ice cream and the body was a blood orange curd covered in white chocolate and biscuit, all dusted in meringue snow. The perfect end to the meal.

At £42 (plus drinks) for the set menu I thought it as excellent value for the four courses that we had. The service was friendly and knowledgable too.

Skylark Café
Dorlcote Rd
London
SW18 3RT

Granger & Co, Clerkenwell, London

Fresh goat’s cheese, tarragon, dill, chilli & flatbreads

"Why do they have to put chill in everything? This only a simple tagliatelle, why is there chilli in it?"

We've all had that slight 'oh no' feeling when first being seated at a restaurant. The tables are a bit too close together for that romantic meal / gossipy catch up you were hoping for and the people that you are sitting a little too close to, frankly, look like they might be a bit annoying.

As we were seated at Granger & Co last Saturday night we had that feeling. One of the first (not particularly annoying) comments from our neighbours made was about the level of chilli in the food. Come On! This is Bill Granger, that icon of Sydney cooking who knocks out plate after plate of perfect scrambled eggs and ricotta hotcakes. If a dish has chilli in it, it's there for a reason.

Miso aubergine, fried tofu & shiso

However, it turns out their our neighbours were right. There was a complete overload of chilli, making appearance in all of the six small plates we shared.

Yes, it was meant to be there in the Korean Fried Chicken (which was the best dish of the night for me) but in other dishes it just felt a bit lazy. Like they'd thrown some chilli in because they couldn't think of any other seasonings. The  spiced lamb, aubergine tahini, halloumi, ricotta, parsley & pomegranate pizzetta could have really been lifted by some lemon zest or fresh mint, but instead was sprinkled with the default dried chilli.

Kim chee, spinach & ricotta dumplings, toasted chilli oil

It sounds like I am being quite down on Granger & Co, and in a way I am. Bills in Sydney hold some great memories for me and is a place I love going to and I was hoping that the London outpost of the same chain would be just as good.

The menu was in the classic Bill Granger style sounding light and fresh with a heavy dose of Asian fusion mixed in. There were some fun dishes, like the Korean Fried Chicken, where you could make your own lettuce parcels of chicken, herbs, lime juice and chilli sauce. The fresh goats cheese & flatbread was a winning start and I was pleasantly surprised by the French toast tiramisu dessert I had. I liked the rosehip & mint punch. Our waitress was knowledgable and friendly and there were awesome Aesop toiletries in the bathrooms.

Korean fried chicken, iceberg lettuce, spring onion & chilli sesame

However, too many of the dishes missed for me. Apart from the over abundance of chilli, the wrappers on the spinach and ricotta dumplings were too thick and doughy and the others didn't really come together as I hoped they would. I thought the pricing was a bit funny too, with all of the dishes nearly the same price, but the chicken a large portion and the charred baby corn just six pieces.

I was hoping to find a place where I could close my eyes and taste Sydney when I'm feeling a little homesick, but sadly it didn't happen for me.

Charred baby corn, mayo & parmesan

Spiced lamb, aubergine tahini, halloumi, ricotta, parsley & pomegranate pizzetta

Tiramisu french toast, cherries & cacao nib almond brittle

Chilled pandan rice pudding & poached fruit

Granger & Co 50 Sekforde Street London EC1R 0HA