Notting Hill

Peyotito – Review

July 13, 2017 by Adrian

Peyotito Notting Hill

31 Kensington Park Road, W112EU

www.peyotitorestaurant.com/020 7043 1400

Notting Hill is fast turning into a dining destination with new openings coming thick and fast. Next into the frame comes Peyotito offering a tapas style take on modern Mexican cooking.I’m excited to have been invited to review as the menu has been shaped by Executive Chef Eduardo Garcia, the chef of Maximo Bistrot, one of Latin America’s top 50 restaurants. The restaurant majors in tequila and mezcal cocktails which is always a good thing in my book – we opened the show with a couple of Peyotito Margaritas (£11). It’s really a classic Margarita with a twist featuring Tajin lime, chilli and salt spicing around the rim to give the drink a real kick. Even more ennervating was the shot of smokey mezcal perched in a little bottle on top of the ice that gave a real depth of flavour to the drink experience.To soak up the alcohol we ordered some blue corn tortillas with a fiery trio of salsas (£4.50). I named them hot, hotter and bloody hot!…The first was a looser take on a guacamole blending avocado, lemon, lime, chilli and coriander, salsa tatemada was a poky take on roasted veg and the salsa negra kicked my gringo ass way out of the ballpark with its Habanero chile. We cooled things down with a Jitomate salad – tasty juicy Heirloom tomato, cured Nopales cactus, spring onion, salad leaves and Hass avocado (£7.50) – which was full of taste, with a zingy dressing and lots of textural interest.From the Crudo (raw) section of the menu we tried the Laminado de Hamachi (£12.50) – raw yellowtail, ginger vinaigrette, huitlacoche corn mushroom and Serrano chile. The rather poetically named huitlacoche corn mushroom added a wonderful earthy taste to the delicacy of the fish. It’s other more prosaic name is corn smut as it is a plant disease that grows on maize but with a great flavour!As I’m trying to drink less I ordered a sweet and spicy Chile and Passion Fruit Margarita (£11) that hit the sweet spot and several other spots simultaneously.Ceviche – raw fish ‘cooked’ in a citrus marinade – is a Mexican staple as well as featuring in Peruvian and Brazilian cuisines. Verde Vuelve a la Vida (£11) featured market seafood; prawn, octopus, scallop, celery with green apple and pumpkin seeds for a fresh and not too citric-tasting take on the South American classic.Also from the Ceviche menu came Pulpo a la Mexicana (£10) octopus, salsa mexicana and homemade clamato (spicy tomato sauce mixed with clam juice). Keeping octopus tender is an art form that the Peyote kitchen has clearly mastered and the sauce added piquancy to the rich flavour of the the celaphod.From the hot dishes area of the menu we ordered Cochinata Pibil (£8.50), a wonderfully smokey, salty dish of tender braised pork, axiote seeds, black bean purée and habanero sauce. Farmed sea bream is a feature on most restaurant menus because of its price, flavour and availability. In Peyotito’s Pescado con Mole Verde (£11) the perfectly grilled fish had been marinated in a homemade adobo – a sauce of paprika, oregano, salt, garlic, and vinegar – which really pimped up the flavour with a green sauce (Mole Verde) on the side adding a vegetal counterbalance to the fish. Simple food brilliantly delivered.Fiona insisted on ordering Churros con Chocolate (£5.50) – a deliciously light deep-fried pastry baton dusted with cinnamon sugar with a rich chocolate sauce for dipping. As a true gentleman I helped her finish them…With good-looking but friendly staff, an on-trend interior and fab food at a reasonable price point Peyotito ticks all my boxes. A neon sign declares ‘Tequila is to wake the living, Mezcal is to wake the dead’ and with late-night DJs for non-stop party people this is a place that buzzes well into the night. They are running a Casamigos Tequila masterclass and tasting every Tuesday evening (4th, 11th, 18th and 25th July) throughout July and from July 1st (my birthday – make a note) are opening in Ibiza.If you want to explore beyond Tex-Mex or the too often disappointing Wahaca it’s well worth a visit.

Cottons Caribbean Restaurant and Salon de Rhum – Review

June 13, 2016 by Adrian

157-159 Notting Hill Gate W11 3LF

020 7243 0090/http://cottons-restaurant.co.uk/notting-hill/I’ve never been to the Caribbean so the next best thing was being asked to review the new flagship restaurant for the Cottons group of restaurants, Cottons Caribbean Restaurant and Salon de Rhum in Notting Hill. It’s the upmarket sibling to the original Cottons which opened in Camden over 30 years ago and the Street Food Boxpark Cottons in Shoreditch.The tiki style restaurant and bar offers ‘traditional Caribbean cuisine, weekend brunches and eclectic rum cocktails’ which it was my clear duty to sample-as well as stocking the largest rum collection in the UK!Despite my best efforts I didn’t get through everything on the drinks list but I can report that the Smokin Hot Bourbon (£9.50) with demerara and blackberry syrup, tarragon infusion, orange and angostura bitters was deliciously dark and well yes…smoky. Smoked bourbon drinks are totally on trend at the moment which made me start to think that Cottons might have a more sophisticated offer than most other Caribbean restaurants in town. A Frozen Daiquiri (£8) made with dark rum, lime juice, strawberry purée and crushed ice was a classic version of what is one of my favourite summer drinks-beautifully refreshing but not too sweet with a hint of evil amongst the sunshine from the rum notes poking through.The Mezze platter featuring (£7) Accra (a peppery Jerusalem artichoke fritter, aubergine choka (grilled for smokiness), creole shrimps and pholourie (fried dough balls) was a prettily presented and gutsy plate of food with big strong flavours and contrasting textures.I’m always nervous when I see scotch bonnet chillies on the menu but the tiger’s milk element of the Scallop Ceviche (£8)-green mango, scotch bonnet and tigers milk- had a fragrant gentle acidity with only a hint of burn. This was a subtle take on the ceviche and as good as anything I have eaten in London’s top Peruvian restaurants.Fiona and I shared the Signature Fish and Seafood Platter (£26.50) for a main dish. There were great chunks of seafood cooked in spices and butter; scallops, clams, king prawns, squid, monkfish tails, lobster with plantain and clams in spicy coconut broth. The flavours were bold and exciting-this was a great dish. Rice n Peas (£3) were perfect for soaking up the seafood flavours of the platter and spring greens (£3) were simply cooked with garlic butter.Lemongrass flan with berries (£6) was really a Spanish crème caramel with a hint of lemongrass beautifully matched by the vanilla and oak of a glass of Corsaire rum.Banana Napoleon (£8) was a beautifully plated construction of Filo pastry, banana cream, coconut snow, tropical fruit sorbet and coriander. It was a little sweet for me but Fiona had no trouble in polishing it off….

I didn’t have particularly great expectations of the food at Cottons as my experience of Caribbean food the UK hasn’t been great. However the kitchen delivered powerful flavours but in a well balanced way that really impressed me. It combined intensity with the precision and presentation of fine dining. All I want them to do now is to have matched rums with each dish!

Competition alert!: go to https://twitter.com/CottonsLDN and Twitter/Facebook users simply have to retweet and follow the @CottonsLDN account to be in with a chance of winning a complimentary cocktail for you and a friend.

John Doe – Review

February 24, 2015 by Adrian 1 Comment

John Doe Notting Hill

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46 Golborne Road, W10 5PR

020 8969 3280/www.johndoerestaurants.com/

Adjoining the north end of Portobello Rd is Golborne Rd which is Portobello’s sexy little brother. It has its own market with traders dealing in street food, housewares and bric-a-brac and is studded with North African and Portuguese cafés and bakeries. Because of the two markets the street bustle with traders and punters which creates a lot of atmosphere and a lack of parking spaces for interlopers like myself and her ladyship.

John Doe opened in October 2014 on the site of La Sophia, a local standby, with chef Mark Blatchford at the helm backed by business partners who shared his passion for sustainability. So there is no eco-unfriendly beef on the daily-changing menu but a focus on venison; and the kitchen is gas free with Bertha the charcoal oven as its centrepiece.

The interior is fairly cramped and Hoxton-styled in 60s worker’s canteen chic with chairs that don’t encourage lingering. However I have come with her ladyship who is resplendent in her new white faux fur Cossack hat and we bring some old-fashioned glamour to the proceedings..

The menu is divided into starters and mains but the food arrives as it is ready as is de rigeur these days. This is fine but if you order four starters, as we did, and they all come at once, then there isn’t enough table space to cope comfortably. There was also a cock-up regarding a main course order. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault but the error was charmingly rectified so all was well. Those were the negatives-as for the food, well it was pretty spectacular.

We were swigging away a bottle of almondy Trebbiano Rocca Puglia 2013 when our first dish of ash roasted leeks with caper, lentil and tarragon dressing (£6) turned up. The leeks were sweet and tiny with a delicious char and offset by the vinegar piquancy of the dressing. A dandelion, fennel, chicory, blood orange and hazelnut salad (£7) was a delicious combo of bitter and aniseed, sweet and crunch.

Stuffed Mackerel, pomegranate, cauliflower couscous and harissa (£7.50) was rich and meaty with the Moroccan spicing pimping up the fish and cutting through its natural oiliness.

Grilled octopus, chickpeas and aioli (£8) was a triumph of texture but needed more of a boot up the backside from the aioli which was too Clark Kent for its own good.

Roe doe haunch steak, bone marrow, watercress salad and fries (£22) was a beautiful piece of meat, seared and bloody complemented by the bone marrow’s essence of umami…oh and the chips were good.

A glass of Elegance Muscat Pays d’Oc 2006 had a lush over-ripened sweetness which set us up for our three desserts…an elegant rice pudding with rhubarb compote (£6), an unctuous Valrhona chocolate terrine with pistachio cream (£7) and a melting Valrhona chocolate and griottine cherry fondant (£7). Don’t be censorious about the three desserts …

There’s not much better than a good idea and John Doe is a really good one that is well executed. Carbon cooking is all the rage now so go and have a poke around the market and then go and satiate your inner carnivore (and take a cushion).

Laurent-Perrier at The New Angel – Review

November 11, 2014 by Adrian Leave a Comment

Laurent-Perrier Champagne at The New Angel Notting Hill

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39 Chepstow Place, Notting Hill, W2 4TS

020 7221 7620/www.thenewangel-nh.co.uk

The London restaurant scene has changed almost beyond recognition in the last ten years with the rise of a myriad of small ‘fun’ dining concepts and a move away from traditional ‘fine’ dining. So I was intrigued to get an invite to review a Laurent-Perrier champagne event at The New Angel, chef John Burton-Race’s first London opening in 12 years. Burton-Race has built a solid fan base for his cooking since the mid-1980s when he he opened L’Ortolan in Berkshire before transferring to his eponymous restaurant at The Landmark Hotel in Marylebone. After a sabbatical in France making a well received TV series and associated cookbook his next destination was The New Angel in Dartmouth in Devon. Having won a Michelin star at each of his gaffes, Burton-Race is clearly no slouch in the kitchen but how would he fare back in the brave new gastronomic world of London?

The latest iteration of The New Angel sits on the ground floor of a converted Victorian pub in Notting Hill. It’s very comfortable with woods, white and ocher tones but feels a little old-fashioned to me although I would guess the Michelin men will lap it up. The point of our visit was to explore the range and history of Laurent-Perrier champagne and we were given an eloquent introduction to the house and its wines by David Hesketh who is their UK MD. Veuve (widow) Perrier was the initial driving force behind the marque and David suggested that it was her influence that brought about its predominant taste profile of lightness, freshness and elegance. The wines are primarily based on the Chardonnay grape and to supply the requisite volume of grapes the house has contracts with over 1000 growers.

We started proceedings with a glass of the Brut non-vintage which really articulated the Laurent-Perrier style. A blend of Chardonnay 50% Pinot Noir 35% and Pinot Meunière 15% it was the perfect accompaniment for our amuse bouche, a deliciously warm celeriac velouté, studded with sweet, wild mushrooms.

The Demi-Sec has an added 40 grams of sugar per bottle. Again a blend of Chardonnay 45%, Pinot Noir 40% and Pinot Meunière 15%, it brought the sweetness out of a pressed terrine of Beetroot with whipped burrata, pear, celery and mustard leaves. This dish had a terrific contrast in texture and flavours.

The Ultra Brut has no additional sugar and was launched in1891. It fell out of favour in the 1920s but returned In the 80s with the advent of nouvelle cuisine. Kate Moss says it’s the ‘diet champagne’ and who am I to argue?! Chilled Cornish lobster came with a potato and autumn truffle salad and a Bloody Mary and tarragon mayo dressing. The Ultra brut cut through the mayo and worked really well with the dish but for me is too dry for drinking without food.

Pan-fried fillet of John Dory, sea vegetable and a langoustine reduction was a great dish. The fish was perfectly cooked, the skin seared with the flesh still firm and moist…and the reduction was intense.

We drank the lovely Brut Millésimé 2004 vintage with it (50% Chardonnay 50% Pinot Noir). Laurent Perrier

don’t make a vintage every year and this wine had more definition, weight and flavour than the previous ones we had tasted.

The Grand Siècle Prestige Cuvée takes art of wine blending to its peak. Launched in 1960 this is a multl vintage cuvée (’99, ’02, ’04) with a 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir blend. It is a step up from the single vintage wines and has many layers of complexity, a lime freshness in the nose and a honeyed acidity. It’s richness sat beautifully with Roast Squab Pigeon, foie gras, wild mushrooms, golden raisins and a Madeira jus which was very rare and tender.

The Raspberry Macaroon was sexy and sweet and great with the Cuvée Rose. It’s a blend of of still red and white wine with sugar then added. The juice is left in contact with the grape skin with the wine maturing for four years in the cellar.

It was fascinating to taste the variety in the Laurent-Perrier range. They make some terrific champagne and for a celebration or just to do something a bit different, a champagne/food pairing is a really great option. As for John Burton-Race, his cooking has a classic sense of sophistication in the type of space that will no doubt see The Michelin men giving him their approval in the not too distant future.

Notting Hill Kitchen – Review

July 7, 2014 by Adrian Leave a Comment

Notting Hill Kitchen Notting Hill

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92 Kensington Park Road, W11 2PN

020-7313 9526/http://www.nottinghillkitchen.co.uk

When I was invited along to review Notting Hill Kitchen with Fiona from London Unattached, I expected it to be a decentish modern European brasserie providing nourishment for the bankers and their trophy wives who can afford the house prices in this neck of the woods. Situated in a series of Edwardian townhouses at the more refined end of Kensington Park Road the restaurant is in actuality a much more specialist and interesting proposition. It is a hymn of love by Portuguese chef Luis Baena, to the food and drink of the Iberian peninsula; to the black pig, the salt cod from the Atlantic and the wines of the Douro. I have only been to Portugal a couple of times, once to do a gig in the botanical gardens in Lisbon, the second trip an exploration of Porto and the Douro which was when I fell for the country’s charms.

The interior is muted in olive green, cream, brown and grey. This isn’t your cheeky local tapas bar, although tapas are available as bar snacks, and the presence of the Portuguese ambassador on the evening of our visit adds a certain diplomatic heft to our evening.

We kicked off with a couple of glasses of white. The Bellori Joven Verdejo, 2013 (£8) was from the Rueda area of Spain where the Verdejo grape is to be found. It was dry and aromatic with notes of lime and petrol coming through and perfect with our seafood starters. Dorset Oyster Croquetas (£12) was a refined take on the Portuguese classic- a binary dialogue between ochre and green with a turmeric and a parsley stripe, saffron oil and the trendy and remarkable oyster leaf being the participants, with a pickled pearl onion acting as referee.

Scallops came perfectly grilled and with a suitably wobbly ajo blanco pannacotta in a fine dining twist on the cold Spanish almond and garlic soup. Served with a sliver of pork terrine, tomato and crispy onion and a ‘vilao’ dressing (£12), this dish was Iberia on a plate.

Mains are divided into two lists headed land and sea. Fiona’s Seared Beef Tenderloin (£25) was tender and full of flavour. The accompanying truffled mash, white asparagus, sautéed mushrooms and Madeira sauce adding to the deep, rich flavour. Her berry-laden glass of tempranillo, a Pico Cuadro, Ribera del Duero, 2011 was the perfect match.

Bacalao Negro (£19) was a fantastic looking and tasting plate of food. The slow cooked cod, chorizo, yoghurt and black beans were bound together by the intense flavour of the squid ink. My accompanying glass of Van Zellers Douro White 2010 (£9) was a classic expression of the area with an intense fruitiness and deep straw colour.

Patatas Bravas (£4) were presented as deliciously fluffy chips with smoked paprika and mayonnaise and crispy green salad and nuts (£4) was fresh and crunchy.

Pastel de Nata (£9) is the Portuguese egg custard tart which I had first eaten in Lisbon in an amazingly tiled building on the Atlantic ocean that sold nothing but these deliciously hot little tarts sprinkled with cinnamon. This was a more restrained take on the classic, more cake like and served with cinnamon ice cream. The sweetness was delivered by my glass of Setubal Moscatel private collection 2006 (£14).

Fiona’s choice was the Greengage Sticky Pudding (£8) plated with a scoop of extra-virgin olive oil ice cream and grapes which she loved and described as being a lighter version of a sticky toffee pudding. Her glass of 10 year old Fonseca tawny port (£6) was rich and a great accompaniment.

Notting Hill Kitchen is as serious a restaurant as you would expect from a chef who worked with Paul Bocuse. There is an integrity to the food and a sense of roots and tradition that is respected rather than being reinvented. If that is your kind of thing then it is definitely worth a visit.

itsu Body Blitz – Review

June 16, 2013 by Adrian Leave a Comment

itsu Notting Hill Gate

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100 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3QA

020 7229 4016/www.itsu.com

itsu Notting Hill

Considering the wealth to be found in the mansions of Notting Hill, this particular London quartier is surprisingly bereft of decent places to eat. There is The Ledbury for very fine dining, Geales which is a rather posh fish and chippie, and then a few Greek restaurants. But where do those pilates-bodied Notting Hill women go when they want to meet up with friends, have a cocktail and something to eat that isn’t going to pile on the calories?

Founded by Julian Metcalfe (Co Founder of Pret), itsu is a chain of takeaways dedicated to ‘butterfly light, low fat nutritious food’. There are forty branches and two proper restaurants situated in Chelsea and Notting Hill with the upstairs of the latter branch featuring The Butterfly Bar-a local destination for cocktails that features the full menu from the restaurant.

We were at itsu to try the Body Blitz menu and as I was fighting man-flu at the time this option seemed particularly sensible.

Pornstar Martini and Bell’itsu @ itsu

Fiona entered into this zen spirit of moderation by ordering a Pornstar Martini (£9.95)-Passion fruit purée with vanilla vodka and a shot of fizz on the side- It didn’t last long…

I went for the Bell’itsu-a blend of fresh lychee puree and creme de cassis topped with prosecco (£9.95). Whilst the drink looked quite pretty it needed either to be blended or served with a swizzle stick for self-blending. At this point it became clear that itsu was like your ideal girl/boyfriend; clean-living and trying hard to keep in shape but with a deliciously bad side as well…

Spicy Edamame Beans @ itsu

We munched on some extremely more-ish Hot Spicy Edamame Beans (£3.95) whilst we searched for the Body Blitz menu.

itsu

A waiter explained that it was the dishes speeding around the conveyor belt with the purple…or was it the blue…or maybe even the red ring around the outside. Oh well, it really wasn’t very clear so we decided to improvise.

itsu Zinger

Fiona ordered more prosecco but I attempted to stick to the brief and went for an itsu Zinger (£3.75). The blend of Apple juice with crushed ginger fresh lemon juice and mint felt suitably detoxifying and I was simultaneously glowing with virtue and my fever.

itsu miso

Miso soup is the chicken soup of the east so we ordered one portion each of the Salmon and plain miso (£2.95/£2.75) which comes with endless refills. My salmon had good texture and flavour and the soup tasted nourishing and authentic.

Soft Shell Crab Tempura @ itsu

From the Hot Food menu we ordered Soft Shell Crab Tempura (£11.45) -a crispy soft shell crab in a light tempura batter on a bed of rocket with a sweet chilli dipping sauce- and Tiger Prawn Tempura (£7.75)- 5 tiger prawns wrapped in oba leaf, brushed with Japanese ﬂour with a sweet chilli dipping sauce. These were both well executed dishes. The batter was light and non-greasy and the seafood flavours came through.

Tiger Prawn Tempura

Next we moved on to the conveyor belt plates.

itsu

Tuna and Salmon Tartar

Tuna and Salmon Tartar (£4.25) tasted freshly prepared and was accompanied by a tasty herby sauce.

Teriyaki Eel Sashimi(£4.95) was delicious. The sweetness of the teriyaki sauce partnering the eel perfectly with additional crunch coming from the sesame seeds.

Sweet Chilli Scallops (£4.95) was rather cold in the mouth with the scallops tasting as if they had recently been in the chiller-despite the addition of chilli they were lacking in flavour. The accompanying salad was clean and fresh.

Fiona described the Wasabi Beef Salad (£4.95) as being ‘nice’ and made from good quality beef.

Prawn Crystal

Prawn Crystal (£4.95) was prawn and salad wrapped in crystal noodles and was fresh and clean tasting.

After all this healthy eating it seemed appropriate to slip back into decadence and so I went for the Creme Brulee (£4.25). It had a dense rich egginess with the right level of burnt sugar on top.

itsu is very reasonably priced, is a more sophisticated offer than Yo Sushi! and avoids Wagamama’s carb heavy approach. The takeaway elements undercut and are of better quality than the equivalent from M&S and the restaurant offers an attractive environment for meeting friends or taking your family. The combination of nutritious light bites with cocktails and the occasional ‘bad’ dessert certainly hits the mark in this part of town and if the Body Blitz menu we were meant to review wasn’t particularly obviously presented-well it didn’t really matter.

Disclosure: The Hedonist was a guest of itsu.