Simon Hattenstone reviews

Saturday, August 07, 2010 - Chef/patron Andrew Dargue really understands ingredients and unlikely combinations. Each flavour works to heighten the other - the creamy potato, the lightly curried dahl and the pungent galangal. Yum. My lady Diane opts for Olive Oil Fried Yukon Gold Potato Cakes that are so light they could float; salty capers provide a counter tang...On the minus side, Vanilla Black is a little too urbane - more reading room than restaurant. And the menu is a little too rigidly set - half a dozen starters, mains and desserts. A few less clever-clogs options would be nice.

Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Then we're on to the main courses - my duck confit in a peanut sauce is OK, but there's not enough of it and nothing for company except a tiny bundle of hay. I ask the waiter what it is. He doesn't know and goes off to find out, returning to tell me it's crispy leek...After our fourth course, the waiter suggests we try a plate of sushi, 'to fill us up'. What? We order some, anyway. A fried crab jumps out of a California roll like a strippergram from a cake, but the sushi has all the raw appeal of an M&S party pack.