Duck & Waffle

This weekend was a very special one in that it was TBH's birthday. Whilst he is quite happy to be dragged around to all the restaurants that I want to visit, there are also a couple of places on his radar that he would like to try. One being a burger joint and the other a restaurant with one of the best views in London. And so when it came to choosing where to take him, it was a pretty easy choice for me. A special place, for a special person on a special day.

 

Duck & Waffle is situated on the 40th floor of the new Heron Tower, in the City of London. The 'wow' factor begins from the minute you step into the glass lifts that are on the outside of the building. It travels at such a speed up to the 40th floor that your ears pop, but it’s worth it for the view that develops in front of your eyes!

 

Once up on the 40th floor it became a little confusing. You enter into a lobby with a number of different doors, but no sign of where to go. We eventually decided to take the lift 2 floors down to the sister restaurant Sushisamba, where they have an interconnecting staircase that links both restaurants. We were later told that the intention when they opened was to have everyone arrive on the 38th floor and then take the staircase up to Duck & Waffle, but this was before they knew just how busy they would be and how impractical this was.

 

When we made  it to the bar at Duck & Waffle, we found a seat by a window overlooking the outside terrace and ordered a couple of drinks. I had a Roasted Cosmopolitan (£12.00) - Grey Goose Citron, triple sec, cranberry conserve and lime, roasted bone marrow seasoning. I was intrigued by the bone marrow seasoning, but unfortunately I couldn't really taste it. The cocktail was still enjoyable though. TBH had a Dark & Stormy (£12.00) - dark rum, lime, homemade ginger beer – bottled and bagged. The presentation was fantastic and it tasted great too.

 

We were taken through to the main restaurant and seated at possibly the best table in the house! We had views over Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and the Swiss Re building (The Gherkin). Absolutely breathtaking! The restaurant was packed and there was a nice buzz in the air. The open kitchen added to the atmosphere and I loved watching head chef, Dan Doherty, on the pass. There were lots of smiles coming from the kitchen and it was good to see.

 

The menu is split into four sections and is made for sharing - Starters & freshly baked breads, Raw, Small plates and Large plates. We decided to have something from each section.

 

First up we had bbq-spiced crispy pig ears (£4.00) and they arrived at the table in a brown paper bag. Think pork crackling seasoned with a smoky barbecue salt. I loved the presentation and the portion was really generous. A great start.

 

Our waiter also recommended bacon wrapped dates (£7.50) with linguiça sausage and dandelion salad. The contrast of the salty bacon and the sweet dates was really more'ish.

 

We also had spicy ox cheek doughnut with apricot jam (£8.00) from the 'Starter' section. The doughnut is dusted with more of the spice that the pigs ears are seasoned with and a little bit of sugar. This sounds like it shouldn't work, but the sweetness of the apricot jam and sugar offsets the rich ox check beautifully.

 

From the 'Raw' section we ordered scallop with apple, black truffle, lime (£8.00). This came served on a salt brick, which is very en-vogue at the moment. Our waiter told us to rub the piece of scallop on the brick to enhance the flavour. I've never had anything served in this manner before and over-did it on the rub the first time round, but learnt from that mistake and the pieces of scallop that followed were delicious. I loved the sharp green apple and lime flavour with the delicate scallop.

 

Next we had roasted octopus, chorizo, lemon and caper (£11.00) If you're squeamish, this is probably not the dish for you. TBH was almost immediately put off by the suckers on the tentacles and he really did not enjoy this dish. I thought the octopus was cooked very well, it was tender and I like the smokiness of the chorizo, but I would've liked more lemon and caper. The hints of lemon that I did get were so good, but there wasn't nearly enough of it.

 

We also had smoky mutton sloppy joe (£8.00). The ragu was gorgeous, the meat tender and the brioche bun it came in was sweet and soft.
 

 

From the 'Large plates' section there was really only one thing to have. Duck & Waffle, crispy leg confit, fried duck egg, mustard maple syrup (£15.00) Again, this dish challenges what you think should work and what shouldn't. The duck was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The waffle was fluffy and light. The oozy duck egg adding a richness to the dish. We were advised not to pour the maple syrup over the whole dish, but I threw caution to the wind and did just that. It was delicious, the sweetness cutting through the rich egg yolk and duck.

 

 

It was only at the end of the meal that I realised we ordered absolutely no vegetables or salad. True carnivores!

 

After all of that there was no room for dessert, but TBH was brought a plate out with some fantastic marshmallows, dark chocolate truffles, macaroons and of course, a 'Happy Birthday' message. It was a nice touch.

 

Our waiter Ted, was charming and nothing was too much trouble for him.

In all honesty, I wasn't that excited about trying Duck & Waffle. I assumed that as with most restaurants with a view, the cooking would be an afterthought. But I am pleased to say that I was proved wrong. It is interesting and really challenges the norm. The prices are pretty reasonable too! We paid £143.44 for the food, 2 cocktails, 2 beers and 2 glasses of wine. Service was also included.

 

There are a few dinners with the girls coming up over the next few weeks, so....

 

Until we eat again!

Duck & Waffle

http://duckandwaffle.com/
Heron Tower110 Bishopgate, London EC2N 4AY
 

RECIPE #2: Chicken breasts stuffed with sundried tomato and feta cheese

Chicken is such a versatile meat and there are so many different things you can do with it from roasting it, to grilling it, to stuffing it! There are also a whole host of possibilities with the stuffing....hopefully this recipe will inspire you to experiment a little with different flavours.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 3 x sun dried tomatoes in oil
• 50g x feta cheese
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• 4 x skinless, boneless chicken breasts (approx. 450g)
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• Salt & pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 300ml dry white wine
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1tbsp tomato paste
• Fresh parsley

 Method

1. In a small bowl, mix together the sun dried tomatoes, feta and thyme. Use some of the oil from the sundried tomato to bind it all together.
2. Using a sharp knife, cut a horizontal slit in the thickest part of the breast to create a pocket, taking care not to cut all the way through the breast.
3. Divide the cheese mixture among the chicken breasts, pushing it into the pocket. Secure with a cocktail stick
4. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper and dust with the plain flour.
5. Heat the olive oil in a non stick pan over a medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and brown well on both sides. Remove the chicken breasts and set aside.
6. Add the white wine to the pan and boil until the wine has reduced by half.
7. In a small bowl, stir together the cornflour and 2 tbsp of the chicken stock to form a smooth paste. Whisk the cornflour paste with the remaining chicken stock, tomato paste into the wine.
8. Return the chicken breasts to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Baste the chicken with the sauce occasionally as it cooks.
9. Set the chicken on 4 plates, remember to remove the cocktail sticks and spoon over some sauce and sprinkle with the chopped fresh parsley

This is really lovely served with some new potatoes and a fresh green salad.

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RECIPE #1: Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of the easiest recipes in the world! I took part in a 'Come Dine with Me' style competition with some work colleagues and made this as my starter and it went down a storm! I ended up winning the competition and think a lot of it was down to this soup. Great as a starter or a light meal.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 x large butternut squash, peeled and diced.
• 1 x large onion, diced
• 1.5 x tsp cinnamon powder
• 1.5 x tsp curry powder
• Vegetable stock
• Salt & pepper
• Handful of pine nuts
• Crème fraiche

  

Method

1. In a large pot, add the onions and dry fry until softened. Add the cinnamon. It will become slightly sticky, but just keep stirring.
2. Add the diced butternut squash and stir well.
3. Add the curry powder.
4. Pour enough vegetable stock to cover the butternut squash, cover and boil until the butternut squash is soft.
5. Season with salt and pepper and then blend until smooth. As with any recipe, it is important to taste taste taste! Seasoning is very much personal taste, so add as much or as little as you like! You should have a little sweetness from the cinnamon and a little heat from the curry powder.
6. In a separate small frying pan, toast the pine nuts until just browned.
7. Pour the blended soup into a bowl, top with the toasted pine nuts and dollop a little Crème Fraiche over the top.

Ideal when served with a warm crusty roll.


Until we eat again!

  

MEATmission

 

Last year saw an explosion of 'Dirty' burger joints onto the London restaurant scene and the leader of the pack was MEATliquor. It started out as a MEATwagon, but proved so successful that there are now three more restaurants in the MEAT stable and it was the newest one, MEATmission, that I chose to pop my 'dirty' burger cherry on!

TBH works in Old street, which is within walking distance of MEATmission and why we chose to go to this outpost. It is thus called because it is housed in an old Christian missionary on Hoxton Market. The decor is dark and moody with a gorgeous stained glass ceiling. The pictures hung on the walls all have some religious connotation and there is even a confessional booth that has been turned into a photo booth, which you are given a token to and encouraged to take some fun pictures!

We arrived at around 20:30 and the restaurant was absolutely packed, but we were happy to take a seat at the bar and take in the atmosphere. The soundtrack went from MC Hammer, to New Order to Dolly Parton. Bonkers, but somehow it worked. I was unsure of what to drink as I was feeling a little tender from the night before, but André the barman took the time to find out what I liked and didn't like in a drink and then created me a fantastic gin based cocktail with passion fruit. TBH had the 'Pinot Grincho' - grapefruit vodka, apple liqueur, passionfruit and Pinot Grigio cocktail that came decorated with a little candy cane. Very cool, but probably a bit girly for him.

While supping on our cocktails, we were taken through to The Sitting Room, which is the part of the restaurant that takes bookings, and were seated at a bench overlooking the kitchen. I loved the bottles of Heinz ketchup, French's mustard and rolls of paper towels on the tables. This was going to get messy.

A 'burgerette' as the like to call them, came over and took our order, we decided on Monkey Fingers (£6.50) which are deep fried chicken goujons with a hot sauce and a creamy blue cheese dip. Like buffalo wings, but without all the work involved in eating them. Genius. The portion was huge and the spicy sauce totally more'ish. I am still thinking about them 2 days later!

 

I chose the Cheeseburger (£6.50), a signature burger. The American cheese melted oozingly over the solid beef patty that was cooked to a perfect medium. (I was surprised not to be asked how I wanted my burger cooked, but was really happy with the way it came) There were also some sharp pickles, lettuce and a tangy sauce that I couldn't quite place. Ketchup, mustard, mayo? All three? Who knows? But it was good! I enjoyed every last bite.

TBH ordered the Buffalo chicken burger (£7.50) A deep fried chicken breast with more of that yummy buffalo sauce that came with the Fingers. The chicken was juicy and the coating still retained its crunch. I would've thought the sauce would've become a bit same'y, but he seemed to love it.

Finally, we ordered a side of fries (£3.00). You can't order a burger without fries in my opinion. But in all honesty I could've done without these for two reasons: 1) The burger and the portion of Fingers were huge 2) I didn't actually like the fries! They were reminiscent of a well known burger chain's fries, a little like cardboard and not much else. The only real dud note in an otherwise great meal.

 

Service was efficient, the staff all look happy to be there and although we did have a bit of a wait for our food, I didn't mind it very much. The atmosphere is cool, the soundtrack is different to anything you would find in any other restaurant and there are lots of interesting things to look at. But most of all, the food is pretty damn fine! MEATmission have two new converts! For a great 'dirty' burger experience, make it your mission to check these guys out.

The bill for 2 cocktails, 1 beer, 3 diet cokes (I was hungover, ok?), Monkey Fingers and 2 burgers came to £51.30 excluding service.

Until we (m)eat again!

 

MEATmission

14 - 15 Hoxton Market, N1 6HG 

 

Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote

A lot of my reviews so far have been of restaurants on the higher end of the scale, but I have some firm favourites that I visit regularly that also deserve a little mention on my culinary journey through London’s restaurant scene.

LeRelais de Venise L’Entrecote is part of a small chain, with its origins in the French capital. Steak-frites and nothing else! There is no menu and no reservations and the queues at lunch times at the City branch can stretch out the door. Clearly a winning formula.

Tables are tightly packed and service is what some would call brusque. There is no chit-chat. The waitresses in their cutesy French maid uniforms take your order, write it on the paper table cloth and move onto the next table.

You start with a fresh green salad with walnuts and a mustard dressing and a few slices of baguette. No butter, because that’s not how the French do it!

In this day and age of too much choice, it is nice to walk into a restaurant and the only choice you get is how you would like your steak cooked. Even then, I debate whether they actually pay any attention – rare to medium rare seems to be the standard. If you are vegetarian, this place is not for you! With the thinly sliced entrecote steak, comes perfectly crisp hand-cut French Fries (what else?) and a sauce that like the Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices, remains a tightly guarded family secret. The sauce has become quite legendary and many have tried and failed to recreate it. Once you have finished and just when you’re thinking you can’t eat any more, a second helping of steak-frites is served with more of the delicious sauce. Seconds? Why not? Totally gut-busting, but totally more-ish!

After all of that, if you have room for dessert, there is a wonderful dessert trolley serving all the French classics such as Tarte au citron and Crème brulée. There is also a well-stocked cheese trolley. I never have room for dessert though, so can’t say what these are like.

The wines come from the family’s own vineyard near Toulouse and is priced at a very respectable £4.40 for a glass or £8.70 for a half bottle.

For a decent steak and a quick meal, I recommend “The secret sauce place” as we like to call it. The food is good and at £21.00 per person for 2 courses, pretty great value. Just get there early!


Until we eat again!

Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecote
http://www.relaisdevenise.com/
5 Throgmorton Str, London EC2N 2AD

Roganic

Roganic is a two year pop-up by Simon Rogan who is also the man behind the esteemed L'Enclume restaurant in Cumbria. Two years isn't exactly pop-up in my book but they are nearing the end of this tenure and as a result it has been pushed higher up my bucket list of restaurants to try. I was really excited by the food he cooked on The Great British Menu (where he won the dessert round), so I was really looking forward to our lunch there. Incidentally, they have secured a permanent site in London and will take up residence in June, all going well.

There is strong focus on seasonality and foraging and so there is only a choice of 3, 6 or 10 courses meat or vegetarian. My fellow Tweeters/Twitterers/Twits (Whatever you call people who tweet?) recommended that I go for the 10 course menu, but that was too much, yet the 3 course menu didn't seem quite enough. So we opted for the 6 course menu at £55 per head.

We started with an amuse bouché. Unfortunately the waiter rattled these off too quickly for me to remember exactly what it was, so forgive me for being vague! One was a chickpea crisp with cream cheese and the other was a squid ink crisp with liver parfait. Both delicious, but the chickpea crisp was the favourite. I was looking forward to the meal if more like this was to follow.

Leek custard with dill broth, salsify and mustard. The leek custard was to die for, the consistency was creamy and smooth and the broth really light. The dill a really strong flavour in the broth, but not overpowering. The mustard seeds added a nice bite to it.

Artichoke dumplings with truffle, Ragstone and perilla. TBH was a little concerned about this course, being a vegetable dodger, but he needn't have worried. As he went on to say later on in the meal "nothing is as it seems on the menu!"

Pink fir in chicken fat, crab, horseradish and chicken skin. It was at this point that I started getting worried. Pink fir is a variety of potato and the way it was cooked in the chicken fat was sublime. It was soft and the chicken fat was so good that I wanted to dab up the sauce with the wonderful bread they'd left for us (which included a pumpernickel bread and an onion bread. All made in house). The crab was a great addition to the dish, adding a nice saltiness. BUT there was only 1 tiny new potato! We were half way through our menu and I was still quite hungry!

Brill, chervil roots, clams and wood blewits. For both of us, this was our favourite course and that is saying something as TBH doesn't really like fish! The fish was perfectly cooked and the creamy chervil root gave the dish a slight sweetness, almost like parsnips. The crisp added a great texture to the dish.

Reg’s guinea hen, parsley root, salt-baked turnip, offal and yarrow. Another very good dish. The guinea fowl was moist and tender and the turnip was sharp and cut through the rich iron taste of the offal. The biggest surprise on the dish for me was the parsley root - I had to ask the waiter what it was because it was cream in colour and tasted almost woody. I did not expect that. It was really, really tasty.

Pears, chestnuts and crispy cake. As I've said before, I'm not a huge dessert eater, so the sharpness of the pear purée was a good end to the meal for me. The crispy cake reminded me of a sea sponge in looks, but had a great nutty flavour and wasn't overly sweet.

Douglas Fir milkshake. This was served instead of petit fours, which I would've preferred. You cannot beat a bitter dark chocolate truffle in my opinion. I just did not like this at all. Again, it reminded me of something weird - one of those pine air fresheners that you hang from your car rearview mirror.  Not pleasant at all for me.

Service was good and the waiters all knew their product really well. We asked a lot of questions and they were engaging and happy to talk us through the plans for the restaurant. I was impressed that they all get to spend time at their flagship restaurant in Cumbria, at the farm and in the kitchen where the recipes are developed.

I was expecting to be blown away by all the different flavours, but I have to say that there wasn't one stand-out dish for me. The cooking was good and there were some clever ideas, but nothing really wowed me. Perhaps the secret lies in the 10 course menu, but I don't think I'll be rushing back to find out as my bucket list of restaurants to try keeps getting longer!

Our bill came to £190.69 for 6 courses which included service, 2 glasses of (a very nice) English sparkling wine, 3 glasses of (another very nice) English wine and 2 beers.

Until we eat again!

Roganic
http://roganic.co.uk/Roganic/Welcome.html
19 Blandford Street, W1U 3DH