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

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

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

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

The Gate, Vegetarian Restaurant, Islington

Last Wednesday I had dinner with two school friends Rob and Joel. Our six monthly catch ups had to be brought forward slightly this time to accommodate the impending fatherhood which is soon to bless both Rob and Joel (for the second time).

We take it in turn to pick restaurants and this time Joel nominated the The Gate vegetarian restaurant in Islington.

The menu is a little eclectic with predominantly Mediterranean but also French and Asian influences coming through. It made me a little unsure of what to order, but that could have just been my indecision....

My starter of potato chat (£6) was a level above the other two dishes I had on the night and was an early contender for one of the best things I'm likely to eat in 2015. The dish looked a picture (top left) and was a perfectly balanced blend of crispy spinach leaves and soft potatoes that were subtly spiced and have a lovely little sour tang from a tamarind dressing. Rob and Joel both had the three onion tart (£6) and were suffering food envy.

The food envy was on the other foot when the main courses arrived. Joel and I both opted for the aubergine schnitzel (£14). It was a good dish, just not as exciting as my starter. One of my favourite elements of the dish was the small side of pan fried kale which provided a lovely contrast to the aubergine and potato gratin. The schnitzel was also a bit smaller than I'd expected after the generosity of the starter.

Rob ordered the pan fried broccoli flower ravioli (£13). I didn't get to try the ravioli, but the presentation looked fantastic (similar to my chat) and apparently it tasted just as good too.

For dessert I ordered the hazelnut chocolate semi fredo with autumn fruits and nuts (£7). It had the taste of nutella which was apt tribute to Michele Ferrero, the owner of nutella, who has recently passed away.

The service was friendly, although it was sometimes a little difficult to attract their attention and if I was to go again in winter I'd request not to sit just inside the door which can be draughty. However, I'd happily go back for the chat, try the broccoli ravioli main and to find the star dessert.

You can see all of the places I've eaten at in London on a handy little map here.

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant
370 Saint John Street
London
EC1V 4NN

Alternate Valentine's Dinner, Lesoco College

Carrot and coriander soup with a Parmesan straw

Last Friday night Becks and I kept tradition alive by going to the Alternate Valentine's Dinner at Lesoco College organised by the Mayor of Lewisham. It was a special night as it will be our only engaged valentine's together and we couldn't have spent it anywhere classier (!).

The big question was, would we win a prize in the raffle again?

The presentation of the food had definitely gone up a notch compared with the previous two years we have been to the college. I thought my salmon (below) looked especially good and the dessert had a bit of flair as well. The food tasted pretty good and I thought was more consistent than last year. I enjoyed the chervil veloute with the salmon, the sauce that came with the chicken and also the yoghurt parfait for dessert.

The service was as keen and eager to please as previous years, but also a little hap hazard. Basic waiting skills follow a few simple rules that I wouldn't have thought would be too hard to teach the students, but perhaps it is harder than it looks!

Despite much anticipation we didn't win a prize in the raffle this year and the wedding will be a lot poorer without the CD of love songs that we could have won!

After a couple of years of umming and ahing Becks introduced herself to mayor Steve on the way out. I think he enjoyed the local government love in and the fact that the Alternate Valentines Dinner was watching a relationship blossom. Here's to our first married valentine's dinner next year!

Poached salmon with crushed peas, chervil veloute and pea shoots

Roasted chicken with sweet potato, giroles and baby onions

Poached berries, lemon curd, chocolate mousse and yoghurt parfait

Peckham Bazaar, Peckham

Baked feta parcels, marinated betroot and skordalia

The first thing I noticed as we stepped inside the Peckham Bazaar was the smell of cooking over charcoal. The second thing I noticed was a whole lamb rotating on a spit behind the open kitchen. It had me excited.

The menu describes itself as Greek, Turkish, Albanian and Iranian and there were lots of items that I didn't recognise like tarama, skordalia, adjika and kefalotyri. Our friendly waitress offered to help we any questions we had and was surprised when we only asked about one or two dishes. Our lack of questioning wasn't from any position of knowledge, but more happiness to make some random new discoveries.

Imam bayaldi, kefalotyri and sheep’s yoghurt

We started with the baked feta parcels, marinated betroot and skordalia (£6.50). We were both expecting the feta to be 'parceled' in filo, but it came in wrapped in tin foil. A much more suitable protector from hot coals. The star of the dish for me was the garlicky white skordalia.

We shared two main courses. The first was the imam bayaldi, kefalotyri and sheep’s yoghurt (£13.50). Half a slow cooked aubergine was sitting in a pool of sheep's yoghurt and was topped with some shaved kefalotyri, a hard sheep's cheese that tasted a little like parmesan. I enjoyed the dish and subtle spice of the aubergine, but thought it could have been enhanced by some fresh mint to help cut through the richness. It wasn't very substantial as a main and I thought a little on the pricey side for half an aubergine.

Spit roasted lamb, swiss chard gratin and greek salad

Our final dish was the one that caught my eye as we walked in, the spit roasted lamb, swiss chard gratin and greek salad (£18.50) from specials board. The lamb was my favourite of the food we tried. It wasn't as smokey as I expected, but the skin had a subtly spiced flavour and the swiss chard gratin was good too. However, for the price I was hoping for a much bigger serving of the lamb.

The Peckham Bazaar has been on my wish list for a while so it was good to finally make it. I liked the friendly service and the fact they are trying to do something different in suburban Peckham. Before I could become a regular they need to sort out the smoke which filled the dining room, got in our clothes and on occasion stung our eyes. I also feel they need to sort out their pricing too, better value might tempt me back sooner.


Peckham Bazaar
119 Consort Rd
London
SE15 3RU

Restaurant Review: The Gantry, Brockley, London

Toscana Salad at The Gantry

A New Year family meal gave me the opportunity to visit The Gantry for the first time since it opened in the old Toads Mouth Too site. Brockley changed quite a lot while I was in Sydney and it strikes me that The Gantry is the perfect encapsulation of 'New Brockley'.

I was a fan of Toads Mouth Too, but with it's wood panelled dining rooms, attentive service and stylish new menu The Gantry has smartened everything up. I think they've got it just right without going too far in the hipster / Shoreditch direction.

House bread and butter

We started with some complimentary house bread and butter. The homemade bread was a sign of good things to come with an inventive menu that was obviously cooked fresh by the kitchen.

I decided to start with the Toscana Salad (£6.90) a mix of red chicory leaves, figs, mozzarella and parma ham. It was a lovely start to the meal with the sweetness of the figs offsetting the bitterness in the chicory. The mozzarella added a nice silky texture and the parma ham a salty flavour hit. As good as the individual components were I would have preferred a little bit more of the dressing to help bring everything together.

Pork tenderloin with 'forgotten vegetables'

For the main I went for the pain fried pork tenderloin cooked in ale, served with 'forgotten vegetables' and pain d'epices (£13.50). The 'forgotten vegetables' were some very enjoyable Jerusalem artichoke and lightly caramelised salsify. The pain d'epices was a bold alternative to stuffing. I found there was a bitter edge to the ale sauce which wasn't to my taste and meant I didn't enjoy the dish as much as I might have.

Risotto

My sister ordered the garlicky risotto (£6.50 starter size). I had a quick taste of the creamy risotto and according to my sister it was enjoyable.

 

Banoffee cheesecake

I resisted ordering a dessert but managed to sneak a taste of both the banoffee cheesecake (£4.50) and profiterolles au chocolate (£5.50). The cheesecake was my favourite. What's not to like about the double win of banoffee pie and a cheesecake? It was like two desserts in one.

 

Profiterolles

The Gantry is a great addition to the Brockley dining scene. The service was very friendly and attentive, and it's great to know that such a solid option has opened in the local area. If they could iron out a couple of small oddities (such as the vegetarian lasagna being the most expensive dish of the night and the sauce served with my pork) it could be a top spot.


You can see all my London reviews on a handy map here.

The Grantry
188 Brockley Road
London
SE4 2RL