the Wolseley

was a big disappointment.

This was our third time for breakfast, and in the intervening year it was quite evident that cost cutting measures are in place. This when your bill comes to £45 for some mediocre food takes the shine off the place.

You may say that I am being fussy, but when handing over that amount of money for breakfast I feel I ought to be.
For example, the salt beef hash has been taken off then menu. So, HI ordered the haggis and hash, which was exactly the same dish but with haggis. As they still serve the salt beef sandwich, a little customer service which would have gone a long way, would have been to offer to make the dish up, given they have all the composite parts.

Unlike on previous occasions there was no paper and colouring pencils for the little one, and when I asked to see what pastries were on offer, instead of them being paraded in front of me on their own magnificent trolley, I was handed the menu again. The chocolate milkshake the little one had was watery in comparison to the far superior Byron version, and I doubt there was any ice cream in it.

My kedgeree could only be described as gloop. I make a pretty decent version myself from the John Pawson book, and I believe the rice should be fluffy and the components recognisable. There was far too much curry powder used, which completely over powered the reasonable pieces of smoked haddock. I couldn't finish it.

Of course we will not be going back. Our love affair with the place is over. But no matter, we have a new favourite breakfast venue or two..

Trinity

Clapham seems to be where its at these days.
Initially it seemed a bit of trek from Isilington where we were based, but the Northern line is a wonderful thing and we were there including walking time in 40 mins.
My good friend John who lives locally, has been there a few times and really enjoyed it. That, and the good looking menu made Trinity an easy choice for one of our evening meals.

We were joined by John and Will and Nina whose impending nuptials we were in the big smoke to celebrate later on that week.

My first impressions were that we were in the twin sister of La Trompette, which is not a bad thing. The decor, lay out, vibe and service were very similar. I had read about the cover charge for water and bread so was not taken unawares and given that the bread was very good and freely given, did not grudge it that much.


The whipped butter deserves a picture of it's own, the whipped nature making it very light, but way too easy to eat too much of.



The food reminded me of the Ledbury, again not a bad thing, and given the pedigree of Adam Byatt should not be that much of a surprise (both he and Brett Graham came form the mothership, the Square). Inventive and much more interesting than any of the fare you can get up in Scotland these days. There is a leaning towards asian flavours that makes a welcome change to the familiar French/Scottish interpretation of things that we are used to.

John had the charred mackerel which again was similar in concept to the one we had last year in the Ledbury:


Will the seared tuna, sashimi grade cut



HI the cauliflower soup, a choice no doubt influenced by the inclusion of truffle butter tortellini.



Nina had the terrine of chicken and foie which was gargantuan in size with discernible pieces of both.



I had the pepper crust beef fillet which actually turned out to be a very good carpaccio.



The menu had changed since they emailed it to me, and I was disappointed to find the veal had been taken off. That as well as the fact that by 8.30pm they were already sold out of the caremelised Halibut meant that I went for my 3rd choice of the Duck.
There were some things that seemed a bit superfluous such as the piece of pak choi on my plate of Aylesbury duck, and I really didn't like the Pastilla which I found to be oily. However, the quality and execution of the duck could not be faulted.



Ninas walnut gnocchi had us admitting that these days the vegetarian options are sometimes more enticing than the meat based ones:



We did of course order two portions of chips and bone marrow.



John's slow cooked belly pork had a good combination of textures provided by the pickled walnut to help cut through the richness of the belly fat and black pudding, but unfortunately no photo.
HI's bavette elicited sounds of happiness




We had eaten so much we passed on pudding which says more about our ages and the portion size, than the lack of anything appealing.

The bill was quite helpfully divided into food and booze and we spent almost as much on drink as we did food, which says something, what, I am not quite sure!
I would go back, as its not quite far as Chiswick and if we cut out the booze it could be quite a reasonably priced meal for the quality of produce and service.

Byron

We really like Byron.

The folks in London are spoiled for choice with high end offerings from Bar Boulud, Goodman, Hawksmoor to the too cool for Skool meatliqour, Spuntino and Miskins offerings to Hache, Gourmet burger Kitchen and Fine Burger Co. There are some blogs dedicated to the search for the ultimate burger, Burgerac being very cool and the debate rages long and hard on the UK Chowhound board. For a very good blow by blow comparison look here.

Having thrown over Bar Boulud for Soif this trip, I haven't yet tasted the Piggie or the Frenchie for myself. We could have had lunch at Spuntino for it was empty when we walked past, but it was distinctly toddler unfriendly with only high bar stools for seating. As for meatliqour the thought of standing in a queue for an hour plus, was not enough to make me want to go, no not even for deep fried pickles.

So, having eaten at the other places, we find that Byron for your everyday burger hits the spot, at least our spot. A big plus is that they are toddler friendly, an influencing factor when it comes to our London lunch choices now. I have the Byron burger medium rare with the Byron sauce on the side and a topping of jalapeños, HI has the cheeseburger with blue on top, which oddly they said could only be served a minimum of medium. We had the Courgette fries as well as the regular fries and they seem to be a sure fire way of getting HI and the little one to eat vegetables.



The chocolate malted milkshake remains one of my favourite. It is a meal in itself. I have to share it with everyone at the table to do it justice.The fact that it contains a huge amount of good chocolate ice cream puts it way above of other milkshakes I have had, and the malt gives it that little bit extra.

Blog 2012

I have realised that the blog acts as a diary, one that reminds me not only of the food we have eaten but the fun times we have shared with friends. Looking back, and trying to fill in the gaps, I hazily recall eating at the Ledbury, Cay Tre, Byron, and Bob Bob Ricard in London October 2010. Lunches were also had at Martin Wishart and Kitchin in early 2011 and then Byron, Goodman, St John, Gauthier, The Wolesely, Brawn and Delhi Grill. Without the blog to act as an external hard drive, all I can remember is whether or not I liked the meal, and who we ate it with, but not much else. So, if for no other reason but to support my episodic memory, it's time to resurrect the blog. Times have moved on and I wonder if a different format might be better suited to my needs, tumblr and pintrest spring to mind. Something that is visual but requires minimal text. For the time being, I shall however concentrate on uploading all my photos from our latest London trip where we hit

Byron
Trinity
The Wolesely
Soif
The Bull and Last
The Hawksmoor Spitalfields Bar
Ottolenghi

pinotxo

Heaven, absolute heaven. Could have had 3 of these. Why does no one make xuxos in this country?!

hisop

cinc sentits

What used to be the best olives I had ever tasted (marinated in house) but a tad too orangey this time, the best olives now are found at El Xampanyet.



The signature maple syrup shot.



Deconstructed pan mab tomate- liked it as before.



An interesting dish little cubes of very tasty fresh mackeral with cubes of cherry in a ajo blanco. The last time we were in Barcelona the thing was to use strawaberries in savoury dishes, not it seems it the cherry's turn.



I like this way of having foie gras, the texture of the pastry and the savouriness of the chives offset the potentially overwhelming richness of the dish.



My least favourite course primarily as I am not that fussed on red mullet. It was a pleasant dish even after I dropped my camera in it! The service was so attentive and gracious that I was offered another to replace it, of course i declined, touched though I was, and proceeded to tuck in, slighlty tipsy were we!



The long awaited suckling pig, again not the best version of this dish I have had, the crackling was too hard if such a thing can be?, but the meat succulent and soft and offset perfectly with apple, two ways.



I think we are spoiled in this country (UK) with cheese courses, so we found this to be a poor offering



Fun palate cleanser with space rock in it! ah the 80's..



Rich dense chocolate mousse could have done with being a bit sweeter



Some mini puddings all of which were inventive and good.

All in all a very pleasant meal, a little less impressive than before but maybe that's because I have had many of the dishes multiple times before and found them too comfortable? The service was excellent and the environment very calm. If I had a lot of time on a next visit to fit in other places i want to try out then I would come back but if I was pushed for time, I might have to try somewhere new until the menu changes significantly.









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