Da Polpo

My life as a food blogger is only beginning, so I am a little late in coming to the Polpo party. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because the hype for the Polpo group of restaurants has been such that it is almost impossible to get a table without a lengthy wait. Cue Da Polpo in Covent Garden. The latest restaurant in the Russell Norman empire and the only one of the three to take reservations at dinner time.

I was meeting some friends for a catch up and this just seemed an obvious choice. Pretty central for us all to get to but more importantly from what I’ve heard, great food too. I love sharing food – tapas, dim sum and now the Venetian cichetti. I often experience plate-envy and this type of eating solves that particular problem for me.

It was a pretty cold and rainy Friday night last week but as soon as we walked in, the place just enveloped you in warmth. Literally and figuratively. Russell Norman knows how to do atmosphere!  We had an early table, which I was miffed about at first – I mean who wants to eat dinner at 6pm? But an hour later when the bar was heaving, I was grateful for our cosy little table at the back of the restaurant.

We ordered the house red wine, which was a very reasonable £18 while we perused the menu. We decided to go for 1 dish from each section of the menu, because we’re greedy like that!  

First up – Arancini (£3) Little risotto rice balls, filled with mozzarella and thyme, breadcrumbed and then deep fried.  Delicious ooziness, but we only got 2 and that’s a little difficult to share between 3 hungry girls.

We also ordered the Spinach, Parmesan and soft egg pizzette (£7) We were told by the waiter that this is their signature dish. For me, it was just ok. It lacked seasoning in the spinach, but I loved the soft egg in the middle.

Next came the Fritto Misto (£9.50) A really generous portion and the calamari, prawns, and whitebait were all cooked to absolute perfection.

Meatballs are another speciality of theirs, so we ordered the classic beef and pork (£7) Why mess with a classic? They were so packed full of flavour, I thought the meatballs I made at home were pretty good until I tried these babies!  Just thinking about it, is making me salivate.

Mussels and clams (£7) came in a huge bowl and so much garlic that I was still tasting it a day later! Not in an unpleasant way though. We got 2 slices of ciabatta to mop up the sauce with, which was not nearly enough considering the size of the bowl.

Our last dish was a special they were running – Piri piri prawns. This was on the specials board, so I don’t know how much they cost. They were so good that we ordered it another 3 times! Every flavour was balanced perfectly – just enough garlic not to over-power, just enough heat to warm you through but not set your mouth on fire and just enough lemon to make the whole dish sing. Loved it!

We did order a Roast potato and rosemary dish that I think had been forgotten by the waiting staff. By the time it came to our table it was cold and didn’t taste very good, so we sent it back. I don’t think this was a bad thing though looking back on how much we ate before the potatoes arrived!

The girls and I thoroughly enjoyed our evening at Da Polpo. The waiting staff are cool and really knowledgeable. I loved the 80’s soundtrack they had playing –I don’t think I have ever heard The Smiths played in a restaurant! And I loved how, even though they had people queuing and had told us at the time of booking that they would need the table back after 2 hours, they didn’t rush us out the door when those 2 hours were up!

We left utterly satisfied with the whole experience. We paid £120 between 3 people, including 2 bottles of wine and service.

  

Until we eat again!

Da Polpo

www.polpo.co.uk

6 Maiden Lane,  London, WC2E 7NA

Pollen Street Social

 At the beginning of this year TBH (the better half) and I decided that we would go to one very good restaurant a month. If you go at lunch time and stick to the set menu, you can actually pick up a really good deal in what would otherwise be a wallet-busting day out! So I set about creating a bucket list of restaurants I want to try.

 

We started off well with lunches at The Ledbury, Texture and Dabbous (while you could still get a table this side of 2012). But then my dad sadly passed away and life got pretty busy for us and nice lunches were less of a priority. It is now some months later and it's time to pick up where we left off....

Pollen Street Social is the first solo venture of former right-hand man of Gordon Ramsay, Jason Atherton. A man who has also worked with the likes of Pierre Kaufman at Le Tante Claire and the first Brit to work with Ferran Adria at the 3 Michelin star El Bulli in Spain. So you just know it’s going to be good!

 

As soon as you walk you in, you get what Atherton was trying to do. The interior is all wood and leather and noise! This isn't what your typical Michelin star restaurants look like. Not only has he put 'social' in the name, but it’s in the feel of the place too! Fine dining in a totally relaxed atmosphere.

We decided before we even sat down that we were going to stick to the set menu. I have a tendency to SAY I'm going to have the set menu and then get distracted by the a la carte. I didn't even look because the set menu just read so well. And at £24 for 2 courses or £27.50 for 3 courses, that is just amazing value!

While we were choosing, the waitress left us with a few little "snacks" (again - out with the poncy 'amuse bouche' and in with the less formal snack.) Pork crackling that was more prawn cracker in texture than rock hard pub pork scratching, with a gorgeous mustard dip that looked like melted butter.  A salt cod spread that was so tasty I wanted to lick the bowl it came in! Salt cod is really strong flavoured and knowing TBH, I was very surprised that even he liked it. There were also some really good olives.

 

For my starter I chose mackerel with BBQ cucumber and horseradish cream, because I have only ever had mackerel once. Shocking, considering how much I love fish. When it came it looked as pretty as a picture! The flavours were Asian inspired and with the added mooli on the plate (something else I have never tried!) it made the dish really interesting. The dish was served cold which I wasn’t expecting and it looked like the mackerel had only been blow-torched. I can't say I loved it, but it was different from anything I have ever tasted. The tastiest part of the dish for me was the horseradish cream, which is a shame because the mackerel should've been the star of the show.

 

TBH chose the truffled hen's egg with London smoked salmon and watercress soup.  I am assured it was as gorgeous as it looked! I definitely had some plate envy going on, especially when he cut through the egg and the yolk just burst out like a jack-in-the-box!

 

 I stuck to fish again for my main dish. Halibut is one of my favourite types of fish and when I saw it on the menu, it was a no-brainer. Served with a shellfish salad, bouillabaisse and liquid potato. Sounds interesting, doesn't it? And it was! The bouillabaisse was full of fishy flavour and I just loved the way the two liquids were poured into the plate that made it look a bit like ying and yang. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but it looked and tasted great all the same. My only gripe was that the seafood salad only consisted of clams. Salads to me are made of lots of different things and it would've been nice to have some other shellfish in there.

 

TBH had the 18 hour braised Angus feather blade with baked celeriac and marrow crumbs. It looked amazing! I had a little taste and the meat was so tender it just melted in your mouth.

 

After our meal came a pre-dessert. The waitress told us to stick the spoon in all the way to the bottom and make sure that we got every layer. We did this and what we got was a sharp raspberry sorbet, soft meringue and then little balls of what tasted like white chocolate at the end, but couldn't have been because they just melted away like little raspberry icicles.

 

Neither of us fancied a dessert after this, the pre-dessert was all I needed. But the waitress managed to talk us into sharing the English rice pudding with goat’s milk, mango and ginger. It made me think of a dear friend of mine who totally (and very vocally) dislikes anything that comes from a goat! "It just tastes like a farm yard!" Rest assured it did not taste anything like that at all. It was creamy and packed full of vanilla. The mango and ginger sorbet brought sharpness to the dish that just cut through the rice pudding and actually made the whole dish feel quite light. Very clever!

 

While we waited for the bill, we were given apple and almond parmentiers. Goo’ey in the centre with the lightest crisp on the outside. You just have to love all these little extras!

 

The waitresses were sweet and attentive, and the sommelier made some excellent recommendations. But the service didn't feel as slick as it does in some other Michelin star establishments. Maybe that's the aim, with it being a more relaxed type of dining? Incidentally, TBH disagrees and thought that the whole experience was the best he has had in a long time.

Our bill came to £112 which included service, 2 glasses of Prosecco and 3 glasses of wine. For that level of cooking and the fantastic atmosphere, it’s an absolute steal!

Until we eat again!

 

Pollen Street Social

www.pollenstreetsocial.com

Address: 8-10 Pollen Street, W1S 1NQ

Telephone: 020 7290 7600

 

Bubbledogs

We decided to go to Bubbledogs based on all the hype it's created in the social media. That and who doesn't love a good hotdog? I wish we hadn't have bothered! Don't get me wrong, there are some good things about it – like the friendly staff and the buzzy atmosphere – but I just found the food to be quite ordinary!

We were expecting some gourmet sausages and possibly some artisan bread rolls, but what we got instead were some pretty bog-standard sausages and bread that you could easily pick up in your local supermarket. The Better Half and I each had the Buffalo and the José, which sounded great. But the toppings were meagre with just the thinnest scraping of avocado and tiny drizzle of sour cream in the José that I had. I was hoping for the toppings to be so bountiful that it became messy and oozed out of the bun, but instead I barely needed to wipe the tips of my fingers with a napkin! I felt that I could easily recreate these at home, with better results, and that defeats the object of eating out to me.

The side dishes of sweet potato fries and tots (think hash browns in the shape of croquettes) were delicious though, crispy and not too oily. I just did not like the presentation in card board boxes!

It was good to try some of the little-known producers of champagne on the list, but it would've been nice to see more champagnes by the glass. Although I do understand that they can't open every single bottle. There is definitely some disparity between the champagne bar and the food that is served. The bill for 2 people came to £47 for 2 hotdogs, a couple of sides, 2 glasses of champers and a beer.

 

 

 

Interesting concept, but I think you could get better hotdogs elsewhere. 

 

Until we eat again!

 

Bubbledogs
www.bubbledogs.co.uk
70 Charlotte Street, London W1T 4QG


Since writing this post, I've been reading alot about The Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs and this, it would seem is what the hype is all about! Seating 19 people around a horse-shoe shaped table, James Knappett (ex head chef at Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley) is apparently showing off what he can really do! I have yet to try it, but it'll have to wait until I've got through my bucket-list.
 

Theo Randall

My friends and I make a point of getting together for dinner once a month. London life can get busy and if you don’t make the effort, you could go months without seeing each other. Usually our dinners aren’t very fancy affairs, but on special occasions we like to push the boat out a little and this month there were two occasions worthy of a celebration. Initially booked for my birthday last week, one of the gang also recently got engaged. Yay!

  

So as it was my turn to pick, I decided on something that I knew TBH (The Better Half) isn’t all that keen on but that I absolutely love, a good Italian restaurant! And for me, there was only one – THEO RANDALL at The Inter-Continental.

 

 I’ve been watching Theo on Saturday cooking shows for a while and I just love his approach to cooking. It’s all about quality and using the best ingredients to create the most perfect dish. Simplicity is also key and you won’t find a million different ingredients in his dishes. What I love most though, is that Theo Randall is not just a name above the door, like so many other “celebrity chefs”, but that you’ll find him running the pass and getting out and talking to his customers on any given service. I had the pleasure of meeting the man himself on the night we went and I have to say, what a charmer! He really took the time to talk to all of us and by the time he left our table, he had us all swooning!

 Theo won major brownie points when we sat down to eat and a glass of Prosecco arrived with his compliments. As if I didn’t love him enough already! While we decided on what to eat, two different types of bread were brought to the table. There was a bruschetta with tomato that was packed with garlic and toasted to the perfect crispness. One in the party thought there was too much garlic in this, but you can never have too much garlic in my opinion. The other bread was the softest, springiest focaccia. It was salted on top with some rosemary and it was as light as a feather. Just gorgeous! Thank goodness there was only one (HUGE) piece of each for everyone because I am sure I would’ve stuffed myself with a lot more of it and completely ruined the rest of the meal.

 

I was really torn on what to have for my starter. I loved the sound of the Beef Carpaccio, but in the end I went with a simple Mozzarella salad with figs and a balsamic dressing (£13). I figured that the quality of this mozzarella would put the chewy plastic supermarket versions in the shade, and I wasn’t wrong. Mozzarella in general can be pretty tasteless, but the figs used in the salad had the reddest and sweetest flesh. The peppery rocket added spice, with little bits of basil running through the salad and the glaze just brought it all together. See what I mean about simplicity? Three main ingredients was all it took to make an amazing dish!

 

 

 

 My main meal was a relatively easy choice. I don’t cook fish much at home so I usually have it when I eat out. How can you go to an Italian restaurant and not have pasta, I hear you say! And I did have a bit of plate envy when one of the girls ordered the Cappalletti with Veal Ragu – but the piece of fish that I had has to be the best piece of fish I have ever had in a restaurant! I ordered the Roasted Monkfish wrapped in pancetta with a caper sauce (£31). Perfection on a plate! Everything just complimented each other beautifully. Again, not very many ingredients, but everything just worked!

  

 

 Dessert was compliments of Mr Randall. As the meal was to celebrate my birthday, he brought out a platter of the most amazing desserts with a cheeky little chocolate “Happy Birthday” message on the plate. I was smitten!

 

The platter included his signature Lemon tart that absolutely zinged with Sicilian lemons. I’m not much of a dessert fan, so this little tart was just up my street. If I ever do have dessert though, it is usually Tiramisu, which also featured on the platter. Boozy and rich, just the way I like it. There was also a Vanilla pannecotta with some alcohol soaked raspberries, not my favourite but I think that is personal preference rather than quality of pud! Also featured was a flourless chocolate cake that was to die for! Totally indulgent, but not too sickly sweet. Our newly engaged friend would like this as her wedding cake it was that good! So Theo if you’re reading this, please could we have the recipe?

  

 Service was friendly and efficient and the staff were only too happy to stop and chat to us. Theo Randall definitely leads by example in this area, making the whole atmosphere relaxed.

 It’s not a cheap night out - we averaged around £90 per head for 5 of us (including 3 bottles of wine at £45 each) but the quality of cooking and the ingredients used is absolutely first class. That, along with the little personal touches throughout our evening went a long way in making the whole experience one to remember - proving that you don’t have to be stuffy to hold a Michelin star!

  

 

 

Until we eat again!

 Theo Randall at The Inter-Continental
www.theorandall.com
Address: InterContinental Hotel, 1 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7QY
Telephone: 020 73641 1883