Shake Shack, London

Last October during a road trip around New England my Shake Shack cherry was well and truly popped by visiting both the Boston and New Haven restaurants. To say that I was effusive with praise is maybe an understatement. I was therefore keen to try the newish London outpost despite the bad reviews that proliferate the internet.

Despite my enthusiasm for hot beef and cheese, I'm really, really bad at queuing. I don't mean in a European, all elbows in a crowd and not knowing how to stand in a straight line 'bad' kind of a way but more from an impatient, rolling eyes, stroppy perspective. There was therefore not a cat in hells chance that I was going to be amongst those initial lines snaking their way through Covent Garden when Shake Shack London opened back in August 2013. Does that mean I'm a bit behind the curve? Definitely. Do I care? Definitely not. 

It is also not just one queue that you embark on at Shake Shack. You queue to order then once you have your green plastic ordering gadget you queue to be allocated a table then finally once the gadget starts buzzing and flashing like a lost and demented alien you queue yet again to collect your food at a different hatch.  There are nice touches like the fact that a Shake Shack employee carries your tray to your table for you making you feel as though there is a dollop of customer service in the mix but all the above means that its not anything approaching a high end experience. 

Strange then that there are things Shake Shack do to try and convince you that it is high end. Putting Chassagne Montrachet on the wine list for example although you'd have to be slightly bonkers to order it so I steer clear. 

As with most outings my attention veers quickly to booze once I've an inkling what I'm eating. Shake Shack is unusual for burger joints in that it even has a wine list at all.  The house wine is a little on the rough side. I'm talking so rough that I couldn't even finish it which is virtually unheard of. Frog's Leap Merlot, fizzy on the tongue and with overripe red fruits. I'm pretty confident that this is the wine Miles was talking about in the film Sideways and to misquote him; "I'm not f*@ing drinking this Merlot" either. On the upside, full marks for the plastic cup with funky thumb indent, if you do have to drink your wine out of plastic then this is a pretty good way of doing it. 

In all honesty I wish I'd given the wine a miss (and I NEVER say that) and stuck with the Fifty/Fifty; a mix of half iced tea and half homemade lemonade. Really light and refreshing and perfect with a greasy burger.

So, what about the all important burger? Very good,  but no prize winning rosettes here I'm afraid. Maybe its because I went for a single compared to the doubles that I enjoyed in the US but I found the actual burger a little drier and crumblier in London and less well seasoned. It is still definitely superior to McDs or Burger King but its not reaching the heights of Meat Liquor or Patty and Bun. I think where the difference lies is that this feels like next level fast food as opposed to being a restaurant.

We decided that it was the bun that was giving it the McDonalds type taste; it is that sweet, bleached flour, springy loaf texture as opposed to the good sort of sweet brioche type burger bun.

Cheese crinkly fries were just as good as those in the US although they were a bit stingier on the cheese sauce front. They still rank as some of my favourite ever burger joint chips though. Crispy, golden but fluffy in the middle. 

Each branch has its own local take on "concrete". Concrete is, in theory, essentially posh McFlurry and by posh I mean very posh. Made with proper ice cream custard instead of the vegetable fat ice cream that most fast food places use, the Union Jack was chocolate frozen custard blended with chunks of St John bakery chocolate brownie and shards of Paul Young dark chocolate and salted caramel. It was utterly delicious.

Ultimately though, I think the Union Jack concrete was indicative of where the problem lay for me with this Shake Shack. It's trying to be all things to all people resulting in a series of contradictions. Yes, its fun to put very high end, high quality ingredients in the food, yes isn't it terribly amusing to order Chassagne Montrachet with your burger (although a travesty; food & wine matching purists would be spinning at the thought) but ultimately it is still a predominantly open air burger joint in one of the busiest tourist traps in London. I would only ever use it as a pitstop for a refill, I can't imagine meeting friends for a catch up or going on a date there, it all feels too crowded and rushed for a relaxing dining experience which means that top of the range drinks and ingredients feel a bit wasted. 

Its also trying just a little bit too hard. The statement burnt into each table that the wood used was handcrafted in Brooklyn from the surface of a bowling alley. Why did you need to tell me that? It doesn't make me enjoy my fast food any more. If its a way of shouting about how authentically American and retro you are then why try and be so British in your ingredient list and craft beers? This is where the main difference lies between Shake Shack in the US and over here. In the US it behaves as though it has nothing to prove and just offers good burgers at a good price. I think it got rather over hyped before the London opening and that has affected our perception.

I do get that I'm probably thinking about this too deeply. Would I go again? Yes, if I was passing and hungry but even then I think MeatMarket might just edge it for me for the sake of an extra 50 metre or so walk. 

Had Shake Shack opened in London even three years ago we would all probably have been falling over ourselves with joy but London has become so burger savvy that its got to be something really incredible to turn our heads these days. Now I just need to go and try Five Guys.

Shake Shack
24, Market Building, The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RD
020 3598 1360

Chicken Shop Tooting

Chicken Shop, Tooting

A lot of people have been muttering recently about Tooting being the next Dalston or similar and, as much as this seems like a stretch for Tooting at the moment, there is definitely change afoot. Whilst he didn't mention Tooting by name,  Alex Proud summed this London phenomenon up in his Telegraph article last week on the "Shoreditichification" of other London boroughs.  Emerging from Tooting Broadway tube you carry on down the road passing all the lovely Southern Indian and Sri Lankan curry houses - which are well worth a visit another time- for a few more minutes in the direction of Colliers Wood.  Its further than you expect. 

Let's be upfront about this. Chicken Shop is the Soho House group jumping on a surfboard and the joining a tide of other street-food-gets-a-home outlets ebbing their way across London on the crest of a casual dining wave. Chicken Shop is a massive cliche of all the current "must haves" of the London restaurant scene at the moment. No reservations? Tick!  Carefully decorated then deconstructed industrial decor? Tick! So dark you can't properly see what you are eating? Tick! Only offering one main foodstuff in a small range of permutations? Tick! How can it fail?

In addition to the Tooting branch, the first opening still resides in Kentish Town. Expect many more to roll out in a neighbourhood somewhere near you soon.

Yes, its all rather painfully hipsterish from the chipped blue rimmed white enamel plates to the carefully distressed furniture you snag your tights on, to being served wine in the glass tumblers that you used to get water in for school lunches. So why did I like it so much? The chicken is fundamentally just really good. I've never been a chicken person. People will regale you endlessly about the joys of the perfect roast chicken on a Sunday and whenever man flu strikes its all about the chicken soup. I've always been a bit baffled. The humble chook had never hit that comfort food spot for me. Chicken Shop's offering was therefore something of a revelation. Succulent, tender chunks of a chicken infused with an intense, savoury, lightly spicy rub that permeates the flesh and makes it impossible to leave any of the skin despite your best intentions.  To steal a rather more insalubrious chicken outlet's slogan; "Its finger lickin' good". Only here it really is. 

It is also something of a dream for the indecisive. Decision one; quarter, half or whole. Decision two; smokey or spicy sauce. My experience was that both are on the hot side, the deceptively named "smokey" packed a whopper of a punch that had my eyes watering a little so go sparingly if you're not a chilli monster. 

All side orders are £4 each and served in those enamelled bowls. Corn on the cob was a real highlight. Lightly chargrilled and shiny you then have the option of adding lashings of garlic butter poured over the top. Of course you do, as if you wouldn't. You get three half pieces of corn which, if you're sharing, leads to an almighty battle over who gets the last bit. Crinkle cut fries are good and coleslaw not too heavy with a sweet bite.  The only thing I didn't try was the butter lettuce and avocado salad. 

So what do you wash all this comfort food down with? On the wine front there are three options each for red, white and rose listed on the menu as House, Decent and Good. This is the first indicator of how unimportant is to the Chicken Shop offering. The second was upon asking the waitress what the wines were I was told only a grape. It took some more digging to find out which particular corner of the planet grew the grape in question. The "Good" red was an Argentian Malbec and the white an Australian Chardonnay. The others were neither memorable nor things that I would contemplate trying. We opted for Malbec and it was a pretty standard offering. Big red fruits, bit of pepper, pretty easy drinking. I can't  give you any more detail than that though as  I have no idea what sort of Malbec or from exactly where within the country in question as it was served in an enamelled jug . This is more my problem as a wine obsessive than it is their issue, perhaps sticking to a bottle of beer is the best plan.  I did spy a ginger beer flying past my corner on a tray so I'd be tempted by that next time.

In some ways we did rather regret getting a whole chicken between two (I think that its ideal for three) as it meant not enough tummy space for dessert. This was a travesty since, although its a quite basic list of options, they do look good. Apple pie was served to people from an enormous pie dish at the table and you could pick how much you wanted. Lemon cheesecake or chocolate brownie were the other two temptations so in effect all popular bases are covered. 

My main complaint is the fact that it is so dark. Unnecessarily so I thought. No photos for that very reason other than of a beer mat that A thoughtfully half hitched from the bar "so you can at least take a picture of something later". Even the outside isn't illuminated so you haven't even got a shot of that. In fact the people walking down the road behind me assumed it was closed it was so dark. 

Reading back over everything I've written it would be easy to think that I really didn't like the place. Sure, there were plenty of things that meant it wasn't a perfect experience but I will be going again and would definitely also be getting regular take out if I lived a little closer. The fat. juicy, flavoursome chicken makes it all worthwhile. 

Chicken Shop
141 Tooting High Street.






************************************************

Graveney & Meadow

There is only so long that you can eat chicken for, especially when a ravenous queue is filling the standing space around your stool hovering like vultures waiting for you to wipe your mouth with a napkin and sit back with a sigh before performing the international signal summoning the bill. We therefore found ourselves back out in the cold night air at only 8.15pm so cocktails were required. Although Tooting is changing its ways there still aren't that many places offering decent cocktails so we headed to Graveney & Meadow.

G&M used to be A Bar 2 Far which was an apt name on the basis that it was rough as hell and a night out would definitely have gone too far if you ended up there which thankfully I never did. What Bar 2 Far's former inebriates and ne'er do wells think of Graveney & Meadow is unclear as they are were not around on the Friday night that I visited. You can create a trendy looking London bar anywhere it seems but you can't quite take the Tooting out of it as we still had to have our bags searched for concealed weapons (I felt for the poor chap as I think my gym kit probably ought to classified as a weapon). 

The standard mismatching furniture is everywhere to be seen and there is something of a sewing theme going on; some of the tables actually are vintage sewing machines. In fact "vintage" was probably the key word at the top of the mood board when the Antic Pubs designers went to town on this one. plenty of exposed brick and antiqued metal ceilings with the remaining walls covered in flowery Cath Kidstonesque fabric which I think had been painted with tea to give it that oldy worldy 'people smoked lots in here for years before the smoking ban' look. Sure enough at the corners you could see the bright white fabric poking through from underneath where the decorator's tea brush had not reached.  The walls to the loos are covered in shoe moulds and bits of tailors pattern's and equipment and a hotch potch of anything vaguely "East London tailor circa turn of the 20th century".

G&M isn't only a pub, its also a tapas restaurant at night (not tried the food yet, I was too stuffed with chicken) and a bakery too. The baked goods are all displayed on a table and you pay for them at the bar. It was quite WI market but is very appealing to the daytime Mum's coffee morning crowd I expect. After a couple of cocktails I did get tempted by an Ottolenghi style giant meringue. I tried to buy one to take home but it turned out they are "for display only". That summed things up pretty well for me. 

It is worth a visit if you are in the area though as the cocktails are well made. A black cherry old fashioned was excellent as was a lemony-tart gin and cucumber confection.  Not worth travelling for but a decent pit stop if you are in the area. 

Graveney & Meadow
Mitcham Road.

Sager & Wilde

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have what could be described as a 'slightly' irrational fear of East London. It all stems back to two incidents almost a decade ago, one where I was stupid enough to wear heels on New Year's Eve in Hoxton, sprained my ankle on the way there and spent the evening sat with my foot in a bucket of ice whilst people talked over my head and the second being a rather nasty "you're not cool enough to be here" type slur in a bar that shall remain nameless. The upshot was that I was left thinking, sod you East London, you're a devil to get to from South West London anyway and London's a big old place with plenty to do and see. 

It is therefore a rare gem that can attract me across the threshold of the Borough of Tower Hamlets and Sager & Wilde is that gem. Following a former acclaimed pop-up site,  Charlotte and Michael Sager- Wilde opened their eponymous wine bar in late August 2013 to a steady flow of positive press. Wine tasting buddies S, Z & A have been waxing lyrical about it for so long that I finally took a deep breath and headed East. 

Food is not the primary focus here but that didn't stop all the morsels that crossed our table from being excellent. It is more about the wine though. I would challenge anyone to find a more well rounded list of wines by the glass in London. Yes, there are places that do lots by the glass but you are usually fighting your way through a tide of mediocrity to dig out a winner. Here they are all good.  It is evident that each one has been selected with such care and attention that you're unlikely to ever pick a dud. The four of us decided early on that a definite strategy was required in working our way through the list without falling over.

I kicked off with a fizzy number. A sparkling Surrey Brut Sugrue Pierre 2010 was an experience. It definitely lived up to its "Brut" label being mouth numbingly dry before bursting into ripe citrus juiciness. All in all not dissimilar to sherbet and a palate enlivening start to proceedings. Considering that Swig are currently retailing it for a rather hefty £49 a bottle, £8.50 a glass seemed very reasonable indeed and you can take all wines away from S&W for a tenner less than the bar price so in this case I could have taken it home for £37. Decanter gave it 97/100 if that's your preferred yardstick. 

The best adjective I could find to describe the Viognier from Francois Villard (Contours de Deponcins 2011) was 'pretty'. That doesn't seem like anywhere near an adequate enough description so I will try and elaborate. So fragrant with a nose and palate of white peaches and a little citrus zing followed by a  fairly lengthy aftertaste reminiscent of jasmine tea. There, is that better? It was a true glugger and on a summer's afternoon a bottle could easily disappear without pause for thought. 

Willi Schaefer's 2009 Riseling Kabinett from Graacher Himmelreich was a model of a beautifully made German Riesling. The classic, tell tale - petrol/vinyl/new carpet aroma was all there (it is a good thing honestly, just go with me on this one!) and the off dry sweetness partnered with a refreshing acidity just left you wanting more, and more, and more ad infinitum. 

The 2008 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru from Domaine de Montille was sumptuous in its creaminess but boasted a chilled, refined, purity of fruit. A sure fire indicator of how much I like a wine in a restaurant is whether I try and buy it for myself and a quick scan of Wine Searcher left me disappointed as I couldn't find anywhere in the world stocking this in and only somewhere in France with the 2007 so if I want any I'm going to have to hot foot it back to S&W. 

Picture borrowed from S&W website as my pic was awful so copyright is theirs. Its usually lots more full. I'm at the table bottom right. Can't see me? I'm there!

Wines that I didn't have a glass of but stole a gulp of included a very good indeed a 2004 Swartland GSM from Sequillo by Eben Sadie, a 2012 Macon from Uchizy Talmard and a 2005 Volnay from Domaine des Comtes Lafon. All were highly praised. 

The peak of my aforementioned 'strategy' was going to be a glass of 1998 Chateau d'Yquem, a snip at £14.50. Unfortunately the bottle was a bit of a dud (I felt just as bad for them as I did for me, how annoying to waste what should be such a lovely bottle) so I swapped my Yquem for a glass of Rioja Gran Reserva '890' by La Rioja Alta (1998).  Tasting very developed, it had moved distinctly through to secondary characters of leather and a lot of meat influences but there was certainly some life in the old dog yet and the classic characteristics of some dark cherries with a little spice thrown in were all still present. Smooth drinking but with elegant tannins, the Rioja turned out to be an excellent foil for a cheese board of Reblochon, Shropshire Blue and Comte all served with some surprising sweet but yummy cauliflower flatbreads and quince jelly.

By the way, I'm absolutely NOT allowed to mention that the grilled cheese sandwiches are really both very gooey and delicious and very reasonably priced, apparently it would be best kept a secret so shhhhhhhhh! (sorry S).  Also on offer are various sliced charcuterie bits and bobs and olives/nuts etc. 

My only criticism of the whole place would be that the red list was quite Pinot Noir heavy on the day that I went but then again I'm totally aware that I'm a minority in not appreciating its subtle charms.   Oh, that and the hipster chap sat in the corner wearing a woollen, yellow hat that looked like a giant prophylactic which was a little disarming but that's East London for you....

Look, I was even sober enough to take an in-focus photo on the way out (even if there is a weird blue bit in the shot.....)

Will I go back? Wild horses couldn't stop me and I'm maybe even not scared of East London any more. I'm a little bit devastated that I didn't try the n'duja on toast though but all the more reason for an imminent return. 

Sager & Wilde

193 Hackney Road, London. E2 8JL

 

Zeal Two Step Waiter's Friend Corkscrew

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to take the time to resolve the small, seemingly insignificant obstacles in life that annoy me to an unnecessary degree but ought not to. You know the sort of things I mean, those loops they put in clothes to 'help' hang them up but which stick out when you're wearing them- snip them out. Never having a friend's address to hand when you need it because you haven't saved it into your phone and its on a bit of paper at home - spend an hour programming them all in. Small changes that make every day life a little easier.

It's not often that I post on here about gadgets and home ware but one little wine gadget has made such a New Year's change to my wine drinking that I thought I'd share.

People have always (rather unreasonably in my opinion) scoffed at my complete inability to use a waiter's friend to open wine. I could never quite get the leverage or the strength to pull the cork all the way out without using a big double armed creation and I always ended up feeling like a lemon having to ask a 'big strong man' to do it for me. No more, my friends, no more…..

 

Some little genius has come up with the Two Stepped Waiter's Friend Corkscrew  so that the levery bit (that's a technical term by the way) which you lean on the glass bottle rim is stepped. You use the longer one whilst the cork is further in and then switch to the shorter one once its half way out. For around seven pounds its a game changer. 

 I realise there's a significant chance that I may be coming to the party rather late on this one and preaching to the converted as since I bought mine I have seen others on offer (from Le Creuset and Vacuvin although at well over double the price) but it was a complete revelation to me. Add to the fact that mine is pink and I'm very happy indeed (you don't have to have a pink one by the way!)

The people ("The Hardware Place") that I bought it from via Amazon were also utterly lovely, I ordered it on Boxing Day and received a personal email confirming my colour choice and that it would be posted the following day, now that is service! 

So, who's for wine?

Five Guys vs Shake Shack East Coast US Style

As we zoom towards the end of 2013 and I think about the traditional new year health kick, perversely my head always reviews all the lovely things I'm going to miss until the inevitable point where the diet snaps and some kind of feast ensues. This year my mind keeps wandering back to the US and a plethora of burgers. I haven't yet paid a visit to either of the new(ish) Five Guys or Shake Shack UK outposts located in Covent Garden - in part perhaps due to my enduring apathy for queuing to be allowed to buy food. A bit of a Google search shortly after their launch revealed a multitude of frankly adverse comment across the internet which I found doubly surprising after visiting both chains in the US. Either the spark of something that makes them adored in the US hasn't made it over the Atlantic or London has been spoilt on the burger front in recent years. Whichever it is my experience of the modern day American forefathers of burgerdom chains was anything but bad. 

Shake Shack

As you may have seen in a previous post on here, my baptism by Shake Shack did come in the middle of a whisky and cigar session in downtown New Haven so the first outing needs to perhaps be taken with a pinch of metaphorical salt in that I thought it was all AAAWWWWWESOME. We ordered one SmokeShack and one double ShackBurger. The ShackBurger consists of a burger (or two if you go double) made of a combination of seasoned sirloin and brisket giving it a moist but textured feel. Its then drenched in that oozy, gooey, yellow American cheese,  tomato, lettuce and Shacksauce. The Shacksauce is, of course, a secret recipe but is mayo based with a good dose of mustard in it. The SmokeShack is the same as the ShackBurger but with the addition of applewood smoked bacon and spicy cherry peppers. I had thought I would naturally prefer the SmokeStack, after all its got bacon in it and everything is better with bacon. It was a bit too spicy for me though and the flavour of the peppers was overpowering the meatiness of the burger. 

A single was $4.80 and a double $7.40 which seemed like very good value especially compared to London burger prices. Wiggly fries were nice and fluffy on the inside and fried to a perfect, golden crisp on the outer. What's not to like? To be honest had it still been open when we staggered out of Owl Shop I'm convinced we would have gone back for seconds.

Five Guys

We hit Five Guys in Burlington Vermont on a Saturday night after a brewery visit. Located outside town on the Route 7 Shelburne Road on the outskirts of Burlington, its nestled in an out of town shopping area of the type you'd expect to find a Frankie & Bennies or TFI Friday in the UK.

One of the big plus sides of Five Guys is that you can pick as many or as few toppings as like for no additional charge. You know your burger is being cooked to order and there is no fishing out bits of limp lettuce or tepid tomato that you don't want. I went for grilled onions and mushrooms but you can add all the usual pickles, tomatoes, peppers and sauces. At just over $7 its decent value for what is effectively a double burger. That's one thing that is worth noting. Five Guys offer either a burger or a little burger. Most of us would assume that a "little burger" is the kids option or at least for ladies on a diet but it is realistically what most of us would consider to be normal. A single large patty whereas the standard is two large patties, all good but huge!

Skin on fries have a great texture but are veering towards too salty. We left about half of them and drank copious quantities to wash away the salt. You've also got to be a bit careful if you've got a nut allergy as the fries are cooked in peanut oil.

The soda machine is also something of a novelty. You can have all the basics like Sprite, Coke and whatever other drinks the Coca Cola Company offer but then you can also have what I presume is a flavour syrup added which results in crazy combinations like cinnamon Sprite or cherry ginger ale. I'm not sure that this is ultimately a positive contribution to the world of fizzy drinks but its good fun to try out as many stupid drinks as you can.

Shake Shack- Take 2

Due to the level of inebriation preempting our first Shake Shack experience a decision was taken that in the interests of a fair scientific analysis we should find another Shake Shack and sample it sober. This led to our driving round and round the suburbs of Boston on the final day of the trip searching for 49 Boylston Street. Anyone who has ever visited Boston will know that Boylston Street is extremely long and one of the main streets in the city. Home to all the major designer stores and hotels, its almost impossible to miss. So 49, Boylston, in the heart of Theatreland just off Boston Common, surely just the sort of location Danny Meyer would be aiming for. But no. Its 49 Boylston Street Chestnut Hill on the outskirts of Boston just beyond Brookline. Into the sat nav it goes and a 15 minute drive later we arrive. Outside a residential house. No, it turns out that there is a third 49 Boylston Street in Greater Boston. This time in the middle of a shopping mall/parade that is still mid construction. I'm sure it will be a great location in an affluent area when its finished but it does beg the question whether Mr Meyer thought he was getting the downtown address....

Working up an appetite with our map reading skills (and racking up almost a tenner in data roaming charges to find it) we arrived at Shake Shack, Boston. What followed may have possibly been the most yellow meal ever known to man. Admittedly this is our fault for requesting no lettuce or tomato and for ordering yellow drinks but it did make me laugh. 

As childish as it is, I love the wiggly fries that are standard at ShakeShack and they are even better with a smothering of cheese sauce.  I still haven't tried the fabled frozen custard. I'll leave that for London. 

So ultimately whilst both brands have a place and I wouldn't turn my nose up at them, if I had a choice between the two, Shake Shack wins it. There's a significant chance that you may find me queuing up in Covent Garden at some point in late January when the diet goes wrong- see you there....

Happy Thanksgiving!

So Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in the UK but following my recent New England visit maybe the Mayflower inspired me. Out went the invites and back came some level of derision with one of the invitees questioning why I was even having a Thanksgiving Dinner, well actually his words were slightly less docile than that i.e. "we're not bloody Yanks so why do we have to celebrate Thanksgiving?" He was, however, mollified by a pig in a blanket and a piece of pumpkin pie. Because, when all's said and done, I don't really care what the occasion is if it means a tenuous reason for cooking up a feast.

In an ideal world clearly I would have been serving the turkey up with some amazing wines but much as I love my mates, Puligny Montrachet for 12 was a little out of my weeknight supper budget. We kicked off with a few bottles of English sparkling Chapel Down this one coming from Tesco during one of their recent 25% off offerings. It's not my favourite English sparkling (that accolade goes to Nyetimber) but its punchy, dry and fruity and makes the requisite cork popping noise so its all good. 

The turkey and all its trimmings needed something white but with a bit of depth. I went with a Nicolas Potel 2010 Pouilly Fuisse from Waitrose. At around a tenner a bottle on offer it was bang on the money, some citrus zing with more developed smoky butter notes on the finish.

I can't say enough good things about Brown Brothers Orange Muscat & Flora. Yes, its predictable. Yes, its not the best quality dessert wine out there but for a weeknight supper and at around £7-8 a bottle I genuinely believe that it can't be beaten. 

So here was what we ate. Full disclosure: the buttermilk biscuits didn't make it, I ran out of time. I did add an extra side of red cabbage and apple and a pre dessert of spiced apple cider to make up for it though and no one came shouting into the kitchen threatening the chef.

The stuffing was rather a cobbled together affair but turned out pretty well if I say so myself. Here's how I made it….

500g sausagemeat

A tablespoon of fresh chilli paste (or however spicy you like it!)

A tablespoon of fresh garlic paste (or 2 cloves very finely chopped)

2 handfuls of chopped chorizo

4 rashers of smokey bacon finely chopped

A large onion diced

2 handful of dried cranberries or "craisins" (I hate that name!)

1 handful of finely chopped sage

pepper and garlic salt seasoning to taste

zest of 1 small orange

An egg to bind. 

I fried off the onion, bacon, garlic and chilli in a bit of butter first to avoid any of the flavours dominating too much then mixed every thing together into 18 equal sized balls. I baked them in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for around half an hour. Total yum but then again how can something that contains three different types of pork product not be delicious?

Big thanks to A for cooking an utterly delicious turkey whilst I was at work, it was fab. 

Being utterly honest the only reason that two desserts made it onto the table was a very selfish one i.e. because Im allergic to pumpkins but you can't exactly do Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie. So one got made and on a whim I got a bit fancy with sugar shards (after all they are always saying on Masterchef that you need to get some height on your dishes). It was served with homemade ginger and treacle ice cream. Terribly easy stuff; the basic vanilla ice cream custard then add powdered ginger and a load of finely chopped stem ginger and some of its syrup before adding to the ice cream machine. When its done stir in a swirl of molten treacle to add some depth.  The other dessert was a good old fashioned apple crumble with calvados custard. Comfort food at its best, 'nuff said.

So to all you lovely Americans out there; Happy Thanksgiving! To all the Brits; Happy Celebrating-When-We-Invented-Modern-America day!

Gordon Ramsay - Royal Hospital Road

Life is so often a case of feast or famine isn't it? As the saying goes, you wait ages for a bus then three come along at once. I can think of so many aspects of my life where that has been an accurate analogy but none so much as my dining habits at the moment. Ledbury last week (blog post coming soon), Five Fields next week all bracketed by various foreign excursions and wine tastings. Yes, I know I’m a very lucky girl but my liver and my waistline are not thanking me. So it was with some trepidation that I faced a mammoth dinner at Gordon Ramsay Hospital Road for H's 39th birthday. Yep into his 40th year so may as well do it in style. 

Despite still bearing Gordon Ramsay's name the restaurant has had a bit of an overhaul that goes beyond just aesthetics. In April 2013 Clare Smyth became co owner and therefore chef patron and the refurb of the dining area (and addition of a new lounge and spirits library) reflect heavily on her influence.

I've been to Hospital Road once before some years ago and had a wonderful meal although its a little hazy as our table wasn't until 10pm so a few pre-prandials had been consumed in the Library Bar at the Lanesborough. I do have the wine induced, late night recollection of accidentally sending the petit fours back for "not having enough dry ice smoke- they're not Harry Potter enough". I was therefore hoping that this visit would have much more decorum which it did, for the most part.

I arrived early and spent a happy quarter of an hour playing with the wine bible whilst sipping an Ayala kir royale and munching on some fluffy little gruyere gougeres. All the big hitters you would expect from a 3 Michelin star restaurant are in there from the full gammut of Bordeaux Crus, through Burgundy and with a decent selection of non French, both old world and new.  A 1947 Cheval Blanc for £6,000 or 2001 DRC for £7,800 anyone?! Faced with a multitude of courses for which it would have been hard to get one white and one red to suit all we gave sommelier Jan Konetzki a (somewhat) free rein over wine (he's even got his own flashy website here) and we were pretty happy with the results especially as people swapped in and out different wines to suit their tastes -we must have been nightmare clients. 

A bottle of subtle biscuity Henriot champagne kicked proceedings off nicely and made a great companion to canapes of quail's egg, black pudding and pork scotch eggs,  cured salmon in shiso and Vietnamese style steamed buns with a soft truffled filling.

You have three menu options to choose from between a la carte, the menu prestige or the seasonal menu. They are quite relaxed about mixing and matching across the tasting menus and are genius at taking into account allergies etc.

An amuse bouche of cep cannelloni topped with fried quails egg arrived setting the scene for a long line of dishes with pour-at-the-table sauces, in this case a smoked chestnut puree. I can never quite decide if application of sauces at the table is a practical thing to stop waiters sloshing it around en route and spoiling the aesthetic of the plate or if its all part of the theatre, whichever it feels like it is de rigeur everywhere at the moment. 

Champagne bottle well and truly wrung out we moved onto the first dish proper; a poached Scottish lobster tail with lardo di Colonnata, pickled vegetables and coral vinaigrette. The lobster itself was on the firm side but very tasty. The first wine that the sommelier suggested was an unusual Navazos niepoort 2011. At 12.5% its striking towards the upper end of white from an alcohol perspective and veers into dry sherry territory on the palate. 

It proffered very little on the nose at all leading most of the group to change in favour of a soave style Italian from Giuseppe Quintarelli which was a nice easy drinker but much less interesting. I stuck with it though and was rewarded by a comparatively complex and unusual wine; definitely not a glugger but a quality wine.

The basic description 'Carbonara' of the dish that followed doesn't even begin to do it justice. It goes straight into my top ten dishes of all time. It is only 'carbonara' in so far as bacon/ham and eggs are involved, that is where all similarity ends. A giant raviolo is filled with smoked mashed potato and a soft hens egg. The pasta bundle is then wrapped in roast iberico ham and topped with caramelised onions before being submerged in a swirl of onion veloute and four year old parmesan foam. It was just a plate of awesomeness that could never have been too big. The fact that it was paired with a lengthy & buttery Pouilly Fuisse 'La Roche' 2008 from Domaine Barraud resulted in a combination as near to perfection as I can imagine. So good that I'm going to hunt some down for Christmas drinking. 

I was far from convinced by the original wine suggested to go with the beef short rib slowly cooked over charcoal with roasted langoustine, lapsang souchong broth and English wasabi; a Suertes del Marques from Tenerife and I certainly wouldn't drink a bottle of it but to give the sommelier his due it was a perfect match for the beef and langoustine. The wine was light enough not to overpower the langoustine but had a smoky, aromatic edge that blended well with the lapsang. 

The style of cooking at GRHR has definitely taken on an Asian twist since my last visit, the beef in particular being something I could have eaten in any number of Tokyo eateries. 

Venison loin was served on a bed of polenta, cep baked in chestnut leaf and Tasmanian mountain pepper. A waiter came to grind pepper onto the dish at the table which, combined with the polenta, all felt rather Italian trattoria (it turned out he was Italian rather appropriately). I can't honestly tell you whether the fact it was Tasmanian mountain pepper made a difference to the overall dinner but it sounds good.  (Well) hung for over 30 days, the venison had an extremely gamey taste which may be a little too much for some. Although cooked to perfection it wasn't the best venison dish I've ever eaten.

It was, however, accompanied by another rather moreish wine, this time a Chilean blend of Syrah, Cab Sauv, Carmenere, Mourvedre & Merlot 'Coyam' 2010 from Emiliana in Colchagua. It retails at around £15 a bottle and is available from the Wine Society and Tanners. As you would expect from a blend, it packs a reasonable punch with dark plummy notes. Whilst we are all used to H managing to throw his food and wine around the table (we've tried housetraining him to no avail) on this occasion he was adamant the blood red stain spreading across the tablecloth wasn't his fault and turns out it was true. Mr Konetzki had got a bit over enthusiastic with the pouring. As a result he was threatened by the other staff with "one of Clare's punishments", this made the mind boggle resulting in a game of thinking up suitable punishments involving kitchen utensils for various possible aberrations (bread roll dropped on the floor? Beating with a chinois..... etc) All I can say is that it seems like he was banished to the dungeons to await his fate as we didn't see him again for the rest of the evening.

Vacherin with white truffle was a cardiac in a ramekin. Silky smooth with a generous sprinkling of Alba truffle. Most of went for a slightly astringent viognier to cut through the grease and one of our number went with a Jurancon which ordinarily I would love but remain unconvinced of its match with the slices of Alba truffle. I went back to that Pouilly Fuisse and was glad I did. 

Green apple and lime sorbet with shiso, avocado and eucalyptus was realistically on the menu as a palate cleansing pre dessert but became one of the highlights of the entire meal. The eucalyptus jelly was delicate but unusual and contrasted perfectly with the apple and the fizzy sherbet added yet another textural dimension. As one of our group said "I don't normally like apple but I love this!". 

Smoked chocolate cigar with blood orange and cardamom ice cream was a delight and a piece of art on a plate. The soft chocolate filling had taken on a truly smoky, slightly salted flavour and the ice cream an inspired match thatI've already had a stab at copying at home. I went off piste and had a glass of Vin de Constance with it purely on the basis that I love it. Not the best match ever perhaps but I was beyond caring so much anymore. 

Highlights of the evening? The 'carbonara' with that amazing pouilly fuisse, the smoked chocolate cigar and the really rather lovely German sommelier. I'm hoping that they've let him out of the cellar. If you walk past and hear distant shouting, please call for help. On second thoughts don't, who wouldn't want to be trapped in that cellar?!

9/10

Gordon Ramsay
68, Royal Hospital Road, London.
020 7352 4441



This article is my first attempt at entering the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge (#MWWC5)