London-eaten. Latest reviews and some odd things we've been to
Restaurants reviewed recently
Launceston Place Kensington. A classic deliciously updated
Silver Room. Mayfair. Refurbed and really reeling in the diners
LMNT II. Clerkenwell. So cheap! So good! So go!
Boisdales of Bishopsgate. Great steaks, wonderful whiskies
Vilandry. Grt Portland Street. A Brasserie with a bit more
Galvin at Windows, Park Lane. Definitely still up there
May we, as usual take this opportunity to remind you that if a restaurant really gives you a bad time, please talk to them and allow them a chance to explain/ buy you off/ make amends before you trash them on the website!
And it would be nice if restaurants could stop trying to hype themselves on site, yes, you know who you are!
Skrei swims into town
To One O One in Knightsbridge to hear about the Skrei fish, the latest Norwegian export. The Skrei, although well known to Italians – 50% of Norwegian Skrei are dried and sent to Italy as stockfish - is not so well known over here. Essentially a variety of Arctic cod, its unique appeal to enlightened chefs such as Pascal Proyart at One O One is its flavour and its sustainability. It has an intense flavour with mild, delicate flesh and can be cooked in various ways but only has a short season though, January through to May. 
Pascal is featuring Skrei on the One O One menu during this brief window in a number of innovative ways. We ate a sample of all of those ways in miniature tasting form, including the signature dish of Slow Roasted Skrei with Joselito chorizo as well as Skrei Chowder, Skrei Ceviche with guacamole and couscous, Skrei roasted with Tamarind and rice and Skrei Dumpling with sauce vierge and wild sorrel. I can honestly say I have never eaten so much Skrei in my life.
The Norwegian ambassador announced, genuinely I think, that Skrei was his favourite fish and the ladies and gents from the Norwegian Seafood council beamed their approval. As I had some more champagne and a dish of Skrei and chips, and Pascal scuttled about making sure everyone was happy, I joined them in toasting this premier poisson.
Exotic food made easy
An exciting parcel in the office opens to reveal Xotiq, a range of 'ethnic' food kits: Vietnames, Thai,
Malaysian and Indonesian. The cool packaging draws admiration from the Mac monkeys who have sidled over sensing a free meal and the blurb is convincing copy. "Xotiq kits are "event food" - meant to be enjoyed with friends and when the results are perhaps more important than the price. They have been created by Daksha Mistry - a finalist in the popular BBC Masterchef programme." It's a sensible idea, many of us go out and buy a whole range of 'ethnic' ingredients, use them once then two months later use them again and wonder why there is no flavour. Here all the ingredients are ready to go and fresh inside their packaging. Simple and tasty dishes that only need meat, fish or vegetables added and deliver a rather authentic meal in about 30 minutes, And, for extra cool factor, you can even download the instructions as an MP3, so you dont even have to read. We handed out packets to boys and girls, as well as some of the older members of staff, and all reported a flawless result even when, as in one case, it was tried post-club at about 4 am. Good food, good fun.
Tanqueray- the taste of Summer
Who doesn’t like drinking gin cocktails in the afternoon of a working week? An invite to go and sample some of Tanqueray new cocktail ideas had me sprinting round to the Good Housekeeping offices with my best drinking trousers on (they are washable and robust). There behind the testing kitchens the good people of the town of Tanqueray had built a bar and the drinks were on the house. My father's wrath when he discovered that G****s had quietly been reducing the percentage of alcohol in their brew during the ‘70s , thus making our yearly struggle with the 1.5ltr duty free bottle rather a waste of time, was terrible to behold. Tanqueray by contrast have never changed their potency.
Gin is not gin, as I thought. Each brand has its own unique flavours as we discovered when we compared brands in their neat form. Tanqueray has a slightly bittersweet juniper taste with a hint of lavender and camphor (mothballs or Vic rub). There are also coriander seeds in the blend, adding a lemon bouquet too. Drinking it neat reveals all these notes, but was a bit too hard core for me and so we moved on to the cocktails. In recent research bartenders cited Tanqueray as the gin of choice because it ‘has substance as well as style’ and the intensity of flavour provides real cut through when making gin based cocktails.
It all got a bit hazy after that, but I seem to dimly recall lolling back on some stone steps and letting a baby fall unheeded from my arms. Or I might have dreamt that bit. The fact is that a Tanqueray gin cocktail goes a long way to remove the drink from those Hogarthian clichés and with summer coming, it’s worth getting a bottle in to build some long drinks to enjoy. There are some more Tanqueray cocktail recipes here .
