Four Hundred Rabbits, Nunhead

Courgette, pine nut and feta pizza

Last Saturday night we decided to pop over to Nunhead to check out the new(ish) pizza place Four Hundred Rabbits.

We arrived early and ordered a couple of pizzas that were delivered to our table pretty quickly. They have a relatively short menu with just six different pizzas on offer and they all sounded pretty appealing. I ordered the anchovy, caper, onion, mozzarella, tomato and rosemary pizza (£8.95). You could taste the sourdough crust and I really enjoyed the umami that the anchovies added to the pizza. They were quite generous with the tomato sauce which meant it was a bit soggy in the middle. I don't remember any rosemary.

Anchovy, caper and onion pizza

Becks ordered the courgette, garlic, pine nut, feta, mozzarella and thyme pizza (£7.95). I was lucky enough to taste a slice and remember it being generous with the toasted pine nuts and having a nice bite from the feta.

For dessert they serve gelati from Gelupo, a smart move as it would be hard to beat Gelupo's excellent ice creams making them in house. I enjoyed my gingerbread and mint flavours. The mint had a real fresh zing without a hint of any artificial flavour. Becks had a single scoop of gelati with a brownie. The brownie was incredibly rich and dense and which sounds great but was a bit too much in reality.

Gelupo ice creams

The staff were definitely part of the entertainment singing along to Christmas songs that were playing.

143 Evelina Rd
London
SE15 3HB

Padella, London Bridge - lunch with Fergus Henderson (well almost)

Pappardelle  with 8-hour Dexter beef shin ragu &
Tagliatelle with new season asparagus

Becks and I have both recently read reviews of a new Italian restaurant in London Bridge called Padella. Described as good value and, more importantly, tasty, we both put it into the memory banks. When we found ourselves in London Bridge on Saturday lunchtime it was the obvious place to visit.

From outside Padella looks like a pretty small spot. There is a counter wrapped round the kitchen and another bench facing out towards the street. (I discovered later they have more seating downstairs.) Luckily they could fit us in with two seats at the kitchen counter, directly in front of the head chef and a man grating vast quantities of parmesan. He grated so much that I suspect there might soon be a shortage in Parma, so get yourselves to the supermarket quickly if you need any more.

Pici cacio e pepe

Sitting at the counter was a great way to experience the restaurant. Beside parmesan grating man, there were four other guys working the kitchen. The first chef blanched the fresh pasta before passing it onto the second chef - with pleasing splashes all over his whites - who finished off the pasta with the sauce. Finally we had the head chef checking all of the dishes and the quietly efficient pot wash keeping everything in order. They looked every bit a well oiled machine.

One theme from the reviews was that the dishes were quite small so we decided to order three pastas. Just after we'd ordered Fergus Henderson walked in and sat down just behind us. I thought this was some top celebrity spotting, but most people I've spoken to since haven't known who Fergus is. Nose to tail eating anyone?

If you are only going to serve one thing it better be good and Padella pretty much nails it with their pasta. The signature pici cacio e pepe (pici pasta with pecorina, salt and pepper) had a slight bounce still left in the pasta. A couple of mouthfuls had possibly a bit too much pepper for me, but that's kinda the point for this dish. The pappardelle with 8-hour Dexter beef shin ragu was also a highlight. I wish they sold the ragu in jars to take away.

Almond tart

About midway through our main courses Fergus' starters were served (not that I was looking you understand). When their table was cleared, the plate of salami was only half eaten. The look on the head chef's face when the plate was shown to him was a picture. The man was mortified.

There was a tiny bit of room left after our mains so we ordered an almond tart. The coarsely ground almonds made it another winner.

Padella
6 Southwark Street

London Bridge

SE1 1TQ

Longhorn, Crofton Park

Cheese burger and fries 

Just to demonstrate how well our healthy eating in 2016 is going we decided to visit Longhorn in Crofton Park for a quick lunch today. A classy Valentines Day lunch if ever there was one!

The menu is dominated by burgers and Becks chose the cheese burger and fries (£7.50), the classic order for determining how good a burger joint is. I was drawn to the full rack of ribs (£13) which includes one side. I opted for the mac 'n cheese as Becks had already ordered fries.

A side of mac 'n cheese

While we were waiting for our food the very friendly waiter bought over some complimentary tortilla chips and salsa to snack on (impressive with such keen prices). He also bought over extra serviettes and a packet of baby wipes that he advised I would be needing with the ribs!

All of the beef for their burgers comes from Longhorn cattle via Smithfield market. Their cheeseburger came unadorned without any sauces or condiments inside the bun, but was well seasoned and tasty. Adding a bit of American mustard enhanced the flavour even further for me.

It is a different style of burger from the dude food burgers going round London at the moment, which have a much higher fat content and generally come adorned with candied bacon. It was absolutely no worse for that and I'm definitely keen for another visit so I can order one of my own rather than eating half of Becks'!

Rack of ribs

Mac 'n cheese in a restaurant is so usually a disappointment and I find it becomes pretty monotonous to eat, but the four cheese version at Longhorn was one of the better ones I've had. Personally I would have added a little more pepper.

The full rack of ribs was a really generous serving (I wouldn't have ordered the full rack if I'd realised how big it was). The ribs were nice and tender. I liked the BBQ sauce without being wowed by it. Perhaps something a little smokier and less sweet would be better?

It was our first visit to Longhorn and we were impressed with the friendly service, large servings and good value. It's big dangerous having such good burgers so accessible...

Longhorn

364 Brockley Road

Brockley

London

SE4 2BY

Mamma Dough, Honor Oak Park

Lorena pizza at Mamma Dough 

Free from the shackles of the Berlin Marathon, it is time to start eating out again! Last weekend it was a return visit to Masala Wala and this Sunday we headed down to Honor Oak Park to check out Mamma Dough for dinner.

They were busy and we were put on a share table - which wasn't really a share table, just a table for six - with a family group of four. Luckily it all worked out, and to be fair to the waiter, he did warn us that was the only table they had available.

Sardinian meat plate 

They have a compact menu with just four starters and six pizzas, plus a couple of daily specials.

To begin we decided to share the Sardinian meat plate (£6). There were three types of cured meats, an excellent pickle and some of the homemade sourdough. The salami at the top of the board was a fiery number with a real chilli kick. The homemade sourdough didn't have any smoke from the oven and the crumb was pretty dense. If it was one of my loaves, honestly, I'd be a little disappointed. However, I thought it was excellent value at £6. The pickle might have been worth the money alone.

Jon Bon Chovy

I found the prospect of anchovies on my pizza appealing, so went for the Jon Bon Chovy (£10) with anchovies, chillies, capers and olives.

The pizza was a generous size and and I liked it, but didn't love it. Most of the toppings (anchovies, chilli and capers) were concentrated in the middle of the pizza and not that well distributed. Despite what you might expect from the photo, the base wasn't that crispy either.

Becks wasn't keen on the idea of anchovies so I didn't get the opportunity to exchange a slice of my pizza for some of the lorena (£8).

Tiramisu and chocolate brownie

What I did love, without doubt, was the tiramisu (£4). It was luscious, rich and beautifully balanced. I definitely want to eat another one sometime soon. The chocolate brownie (£3.50) was good too and I particularly liked the vanilla ice cream. However, no dessert was going to eclipse the tiramisu.

The service was quick and friendly. There were a couple of minor blips when our table and menu were dirty and we had to ask for them to be wiped down. They also forgot our carafe of wine. However, once it arrived I really liked the red we chose and it was welcome to be able to buy wines by the carafe on a school night.

At £23 each, including service, we thought it was good value too.

Mamma Dough
76-78 Honor Oak Park,
London
SE23 1DY

Nonna's Kitchen and the Book of Mormon

Rigatoni della Nona

Two weekends ago we headed into the west end to see the musical Book or Mormon (which was excellent, but more on that later).

Before the show we had dinner at Nonna's Kitchen a Sicilian restaurant located just round the corner from the theatre. Having been so wowed with the food in Sicily on our honeymoon we were both interested to see how Nonna's compared.

While nothing can really compare with the memories of your honeymoon, Nonna's was a very solid option in a touristy part of town I'd usually steer well clear of if I was looking for 'good' food. There were lots of dishes on the menu I'd identify with being Sicilian and, if I remember correctly, they import some of their ingredients directly from the island.

Casarecce con pesce spade e melenzane

We started with some bread, dips and olives while we were looking at the menus. An incredibly generous serving for £4 the restaurant are shooting themselves in the foot as it put us off ordering any starters.

As a main course I ordered the rigatoni della Nonna. Initially I wasn't too impressed when a bowl with just three meatballs arrived in front of me, but looks can be deceiving as the meatballs were excellent.

For dessert I ordered the cassatina hoping it would be like the one I tried at Café Sicilia. It was a completely different in cake in style and I couldn't quite change my expectations enough to fully enjoy it.

Cassatina

After dinner we went to see The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales theatre. I knew absolutely nothing about the musical, but knew Becks was keen to see it so had bought tickets. It turned out she didn't know much about it either and just before the curtain went up we read this synopsis on Wikipedia:

The Book of Mormon tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries sent to a remote village in northern Uganda, where a brutal warlord is threatening the local population. Naïve and optimistic, the two missionaries try to share the Book of Mormon, one of their scriptures—which only one of them has read—but have trouble connecting with the locals, who are more worried about war, famine, poverty and AIDS than about religion.

It was pleased we'd read the description as it gave me a frame of reference to understand what was to come, which was hilarious and brilliantly acted by the young cast.

Nonna's Kitchen
39 Panton Street,
London
SW1Y 4EA

Ristorante Manna, Noto, Sicily

The bat in Risorante Mana, Noto

Ristorante Manna in Noto is a place that I could quite happily move into.

On our final evening in Noto we headed out to look for somewhere to eat. As we set out on our search we caught site of a stylish, empty looking bar through a narrow doorway, a few doors down from our hotel.

We continued our promenade round town and returned to Manna for dinner. The restaurant has the feel of somewhere that has recently opened, or been substantially refurbished, and it was like they'd done it exactly to our taste. Sleek, stylish interiors and carefully chosen bursts of colour created a very attractive dining room. I couldn't help myself but to have a look under the tables and chairs to see if I could find the manufacturers name. (Sadly I coudln't.)

It wasn't just about the interior though, Manna was our second 'expensive' meal of the holiday. The food had a different feel to anything else we ate during our time in Sicily. There was the same emphasis on local ingredients and good flavours, but everything was done with a little more finesse. The standard of the presentation was higher, there was a bit more technique on the plate and the service more attentive.

I recognised several of the same wines, at lower prices, that were on the wine list at Crocofiso where we'd eaten on our first night, reinforcing the feeling of value.

My photo taking and admiration of the interior hadn't been that subtle and at the end of the night the owner / manager offered to show us round the restaurant on the way out. I think she appreciated that we obviously loved the place as much as she did.

The bar

Codfish croquettes

Shaved articokes with Ragusano cheese and sun dried tomatoes in a tuile basket

Salt baked rabbit

Mixed fish of the day

Dark chocolate cake

Ricotta cheesecake

You can view everywhere we visited on our honeymoon on this map.

Ristorante Manna
Via Rocco Pirri 19
96017

Noto

Italia

The best ice-cream in the World?

A big reason (well, perhaps the reason) for booking to stay in Noto was this Guardian Travel article where Giorgio Locatelli makes the bold claim that Noto has the best ice-cream shop in the world. A quick internet search can find lots of similar claims and even the exciting prospect of Noto having the best and second-best ice cream shops in the world. We’d have been remiss if we didn’t try both of them.

Dolceria Costanzo

We first tried Dolceria Costanzo and to be honest I thought I’d walked into the wrong café. I was expecting a mecca to ice-cream, a dessert fantasy like Adriano Zumbo’s Patisserie or Gelato Messina (both in Sydney). Instead we were standing in a classic, even plain, looking bar. It took me a couple of moments to notice the small ice-cream counter that was tucked just inside the door on the left hand side. We each ordered a cup of ice-cream with two flavours and went outside to take up a seat on the terrace.

I ordered a bowl of pistachio and chocolate. The pistachio for a local flavour and chocolate because it is always a benchmark for me. There are a lot of bad chocolate ice creams out there and only the top people can make a good one. It was  strawberry and almond for Becks. All four ice creams and a lovely smooth texture. The pistachio and almond ice creams had delicate flavours. The chocolate flavour was bolder. At €3.50 per bowl, the price of a Magnum in London, you definitely couldn't knock the value.

Almond, strawberry & almond and blood orange granita in Cafe Sicilia in Noto 

On our final morning in Noto we visited Café Sicilia, the more famous of the two venues. Famous for their granite we ordered a tasting plate €5 of the almond, strawberry and blood orange & almond flavours, all made with local ingredients. They were subtle and beautiful flavours and the granite was very refreshing.

The granite was 'officially' for Becks so I ordered a cassatina €3.50, a ricotta cake covered in a pistachio paste and topped with icing and a glace cherry. It was like Sicily meets the Bakewell tart, and wins. I loved it.

Café Sicilia added a 22% service charge to the bill, which was the first (and only?) time I noticed service being added to our bills. When it was such a low value transaction it didn't hit the pocket too badly, but I did think it was a bit of a cheek.

Cassatina

So, do Dolceria Costanzo and Café Sicilia serve the best ice cream in the world? They were both very good ice creams, but all the ice cream we tasted in Sicily was very good and this unrefined pallet wouldn't place them higher than some of the others we tasted.


Dolceria Costanzo
Via Silvio Spaventa, 7
96017 Noto SR
Italy

Cafè Sicilia
Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 125
96017 Noto SR
Italy

Trattoria Del Carmine, Noto, Sicily

Antipasto misto della casa

Dinner at Trattoria Del Carmine was one of my favourite meals while we were in Sicily. It was our only experience of a family run, unpretentious trattoria. The husband and wife team were cooking the local food that they enjoyed and I was pleased to be able to taste it.

Although at the start of the night I wasn't sure it was going to be one of my favourite meals. We were given a table in an empty section of the dining room, filled with basic furniture. It wasn't the most promising start, but I definitely warmed up to the place.

We ordered the antipasto misto della casa to share as a starter. Considering it was only €6 what arrived was a very generous place of courgettes, aubergines, roasted peppers, salami, aranchini, fritata and cheese. Washed down with a glass of house white from the carafe we ordered it was a lovely start to the meal.

Veal chop, with an orange and onion salad

By the time our main courses arrived a couple of extra tables had joined us in our dining room and our end of the restaurant had started to develop a bit of welcome atmosphere.

Is was one of the few times that I ordered from the secondi section of the menu for my main course and had the filietto de vitello al romarino (€9). It was literally just a pan fried veal steak covered in a little chopped rosemary and drizzled with olive oil with a wedge of lemon on the side. It was well cooked, but I was pleased that I'd ordered the insalata di arance e cipolla (€3) on the side and we had a basket of bread that I could chomp through too.

Pasta with Sicilian pesto and tomatoes

Becks ordered the pasta el pesto Siciliano (€9). The Sicilian pesto is made with almonds instead of pine nuts and (I think) has a local alternative to parmesan cheese in it too. It was a generous bowl of what looked like handmade trofie pasta and I was very happy to help Becks out with a few mouthfuls.

Cannolo for dessert - pistachio and chocolate

Having had an ice cream stop that afternoon, we certainly didn't need dessert, but I couldn't resist the cannolo and at only €2 they surely had to be small? They certainly weren't small, but they definitely were delicious and probably my favourite cannolo of the holiday.

With wine the bill came to an unbelievable €37. We thanked our host, left a small tip and headed back to the hotel happy.


Trattoria Del Carmine
Via Ducezio, 1,
96017 Noto, Italy
+39 0931 838705

Honeymoon Day 1: London to Noto, Sicily

Noto's cathedral 

We didn't start our honeymoon until the Monday after our wedding. Pushing the boat out for the holiday of a lifetime, we caught the train to Gatwick, picked up some sandwiches in Eat so we could have a picnic on the plane and caught an Easyjet flight to Catania in Sicily. Don't say we don't know how to live!

Arriving in Sicily we belatedly found the Avis car hire desk outside of the terminal building. Although it was a little difficult to find, we crucially got there before the rest of the passengers on our flight and were able to pick up the car without too much of a wait.

I was quite nervous about driving in Italy having heard stories over the year of manic drivers and crowded roads. Overall driving in Italy wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, however, the road signs were completely shocking. Leaving the airport you'd think there would be some signage to the major motorway nearby. There was nothing. Following signs to Syracuse we ended up on a minor road heading south roughly parallel to the motorway. The minor road was a good introduction to learn that no one obeys the speed limits and we were able to connect with the motorway a bit further south and start speeding to our destination.

A practice for the Noto flower festival

It took us just over an hour and a half to get to Noto where we were staying for the first three nights of our honeymoon. Miraculously, considering the road signs, we managed to find our way relatively easily into the centre of town. We drove past our hotel which was tucked down a side street, but realising we had overshot we parked the car a couple of streets further on and walked back to the hotel. (I have a bit of paranoia about getting into small car parking spaces, but there was thankfully a nice big gap for us to swing into.)

We checked into our hotel which thankfully seemed very nice. It looked like one of the best hotels in town, but only has a 3* rating, so I was a bit concerned all those nice looking photos on the website could have been deceptive!

It was already early evening so we decided to head out for a quick walk round town before going for dinner. A baroque town built in the sixteenth century, Noto's (small) main street was gloriously impressive. In the street where our hotel was located there was a practice for the upcoming flower festival and the cathedral was looking lovely in the evening sun as the locals promenaded up and down the main street.

Pane, Panelle e Gamberoricotta al Limone e Songino 

After a short walk round town we decided to head for dinner at Ristorante Crocofisso which we'd selected from the guide book and was supposed to be one of the smarter restaurants in town.

This was my first real Italian restaurant experience (in Italy) and I was a little at sea to begin with. My Italian is minimal and I had no idea what all the dishes were. They also gave us two menus which after a while I worked out was a 'fish' menu and a 'meat' menu. Could you mix and match? Should you order a primi and a secondi? Through a combination of Becks' Italian and our friendly waiter I was soon a little more on track.

It was an enjoyable evening and our waiter was very friendly and helpful. The food was good, however, as we learnt during the week, the standard in Sicily was very high. I'm pleased we had a white linen table cloth experience while we were on honeymoon, but considering at €85 it was over twice the price of the trattorias we ate in most nights, it failed to stand out.

Spagetti with broad beans, carrot and lamb

Ricotta ravioli and pork belly

Pistachio canoli with almond ice cream

Pistachio cake, with pistachio ice cream and pear poached in nero d'avola

Le Querce Italian, Honor Oak

Last Saturday night we went for dinner at Le Querce in Honor Oak for Beck's birthday, just over the road from Babur where we went for her first birthday we were together. I don't like to travel too far.

Last Saturday was also the night of the Blackheath firework display so I'd arranged a late booking to allow us to watch some fireworks from nearby Blythe Hill before dinner. The Blackheath display started ten minutes late, and I had a few moments thinking I'd dragged us up a hill on a cold night for no reward. But it turned out to be a good vantage point with beautifully clear sweeping views of the city. We were able to see both the Blackheath and Alexandra Palace displays pretty well and had the Crystal Palace display booming behind has as well.

The restaurant was full when we arrived and we were seated on a small table between two other couples. Luckily one of them was just finishing up which allowed us a bit more room once they'd left.

We almost didn't order starters, but I'm pleased we selected the salame, carasau e formaggio to share from the special menu. The hard cheese had a lightly smoked flavour, while the small serving of soft cheese had a heavenly texture. It was much smoother and creamier than a mozzarella or burrata. Beck's likened the texture to Dairly Lee triangles. I'd said the cheese we had yielded a little more, but it was a pretty accurate description, although gives completely the wrong impression of the quality!

My main of hake was also from the specials menu. The large serving of hake flaked apart and was served with a fresh tomato sauce and cauliflower. The drizzle of salsa verde gave we welcome lift and freshness and I would have liked more of it.

The star reason for going to Le Querce in my view is for their extensive selection of homemade ice creams and sorbets which are frankly, fantastic. We both went for three scoops. My tactic was to go for something classic - chocolate - a little different - pineapple and mint - and them something a bit more out there - Banana, Cardamom and Ginger. (Ok, so it wasn't completely out there, but I wasn't up for the onion and garlic.)

The star of my plate was the pineapple and mint while the standout on Beck's plate was the strawberry and cassis.


The service was a little slow towards the end of the night, but you can forgive them a lot when the ice creams are that good. It was good value too.

Le Querce
66 Brockley Rise
London
SE23 1LN

Restaurant Review: The River Café, Hammershith

Becks and the hot pink pizza oven

While the thought of one of my foodie friends coming to London from Sydney was an exciting prospect, it also, secretly, filled me with a little bit of dread. I think the food scene in Sydney is good. Very good. In many ways it is better than London. When Simon told me that his schedule only allowed us to meet up over one meal the pressure was raised even more. Where should I take him?

Where London does have an edge over Sydney is in celebrity chefs, Michelin stars (the guide doesn't do Australia) and European food. Places like The Fat Duck, Ledbury and Le Gavroche were all out as we were booking comparatively late. After a bit of emailing to and fro we settled on Sunday lunch at The River Café.

Becks and I

We were first customer of the day to arrive and the wait staff were still having their briefing as we entered the dining room. A large, bright and open space there are a few hits of well chosen colour with the hit pink pizza oven, bright blue wall behind the kitchen and glass splash back above the long bar. When the owners husband is a famous architect, and his practice located next door, it isn't a surprise that the space is so well designed.

Simon asked our waitress what the killer dishes on the menu were as he only had one shot to eat their signature dishes before jumping back on a plane. While insisting that everything was good and the regularly changing menu meant there wasn't a signature dish, she talked us through the menu and ingredients in detail.

Deep fried whole anchovies, artichokes and polenta

As a starter I went for the deep fried whole anchovies, artichokes and polenta (£17). Around half way through the dish I bit into an anchovy and got a mouth full of bones and scales. It was completely disgusting and I had to scrap my tongue with my napkin (lovely image I know) to try and get the small bones out of my mouth.

When I mentioned it to our waitress as she collected our plates there wasn't a hint of an apology. I know there is a risk eating whole anchovies, but even a throw away "I'm terribly sorry about that" wouldn't have gone amiss.

We decided that the castelluccio lentils accompanying Simon's scallops were the winning starter for us.

Hand made 'agnoli' with veal and veal sweatbreads. With a butter, sage and parmesan

As a main course I went for the hand made 'agnoli' with veal and veal sweatbreads, served with a butter, sage and parmesan (£18). The pasta was perfectly cooked and I enjoyed the veal filling. Although at six agnoli to a portion it wasn't exactly generous.

I enjoyed my taste of Simon's charred monkfish (£37) and thought the accompanying green beans were cooked perfectly al dente.

My sample of Beck's Devon crab, chilli, fennel herb and parsley (£21) didn't rock my world. The serving of crab wasn't as generous as that we'd had the night before at the Ladywell Supper Club and there was some shell in the pasta too. Anyone spotting a theme?

Nespole and almond tart

Desserts were a tough choice, one that our waitress was on hand to talk us through. I decided to go for the nespole and almond tart (£9), purely because I hadn't heard of a nespole before. However, I am now informed it is a loquat. They taste good in a tart too.

Simon had half portions of the chocolate nemesis and lemon tart (£4.5 each). The chocolate nemesis is cooked in a bain marie and had an almost mousse like texture as promised. The half portion was definitely a good move as a full slice would defeat anyone. The lemon tart is made of fruit from the Amalfi coast and it really did zing.

Becks made a good choice with the ice cream selection (£4 per scoop).

During the desserts I realised that Ruth Rogers, her husband and family / friends were at a neighbouring table enjoying Sunday lunch. Richard Rogers was wearing bright red socks with matching crocs. If I owned my own restaurant I'd probably do it too.

Simon and I after lunch

When it came to two o'clock we were pushed out of our table. Not something I expect at these prices, especially when there were free tables in the room and no obvious queue at the door. They whipped Becks' ice creams away before she'd finished too.

As we were leaving they were very accommodating of Simon wanting to take photos of the chef and front of house staff. While Simon was taking photos I got talking to one of the other customers and it was obvious they were regulars, in fact it sounded like they were there every week for lunch. I got the impression that a lot of the room were Sunday lunch regulars.

If I'm honest I was a little bit disappointed in The River Café. The bill was £240 for the three of us and I don't mind those type of prices if the experience matches, but I don't think it did. The food was certainly good, but it wasn't special and there were a couple of service points that, for me, didn't get handled correctly.

The afternoon after our visit I read this review of dinner a few days before. The review and some of the comments sum up my views pretty well.

White asparagus, parmesan and anchovy butter (very salty from the parmesan an anchovy butter, overwhelmed the flavour of the asparagus)

Seared scallops with red chilli and casteluccio lentils (the lentils were very good and the scallops)

Devon crab, chilli, fennel herb and parsley

Chargrilled butterfliend monkfish with rosemary and anchovy sauce and green beans in umido

Half serves of the chocolate nemesis and lemon tart

Strawberry sorbet, roasted almond and stracchiatella gelati

The River Café
Thames Wharf
Rainville Road
Hammersmith
London
W6 9HA