London-Unattached

Review-Namaaste Kitchen

March 5, 2013 by Adrian Leave a Comment

Namaaste Kitchen Camden

64 Parkway, Camden, London , NW1

There seems to be a new generation of Indian chef/patrons who have spent time behind the stoves at London’s more progressive top-end Indian restaurants and are now opening their own places showcasing a lighter approach to the food. I can think of Manoj Vasaikar’s Indian Zing in Hammersmith and now Sabbir Karim at Namaaste Kitchen in Camden. Sabbir is also the owner of Salaam Namaste in Bloomsbury which has a more traditional approach.

Parkway is the main food hub in Camden. It is a pulsating thoroughfare full of restaurants, pubs and clubs.

Namaaste Kitchen sits about half-way down and the interior is an oasis of calm in brown and white after the hurly-burly of the street.

Fiona from London Unattached and I are met with freshly cooked poppadums and home-made chutneys (£!.20): Mango and pineapple , Tomato and finally a garlicky Coriander. These are some of the best I have tasted and I hope an indicator of what is to come.

While we are looking at the menu the kitchen sends out Panni Puri, little crunchy puffs of unleavened bread with a potato and spice filling and sitting on top of a deliciously sour shot of Tamarind water. In a sense the story of the restaurant’s food was in this little dish; intelligent spicing, a lightness of touch and intense flavours.

For our starters we ordered Spicy Soft Shell Crab (£5.95) and Tandoori Aatish-e-Jingha (£5.50).

Spicy Soft Shell Crab

Deep-fried in a semolina batter and marinated in a green peppercorn and lemon sauce, the crab was tender and brilliantly flavoured with a fig and prune sauce adding spice and depth to the combination of flavours. A great dish.

Tandoori Aatish-e-Jingha

Tandoori Aatish-e-Jingha was a construction of King prawns marinated in English mustard, yoghourt and spices, cooked in the Tandoor oven and served with aubergine compote and balchao sauce (a Goanese curry). The marinade managed not to overwhelm the prawns and gave them a surprising depth of flavour.

Choosing wine for rich spicy food is really hard and often I get it wrong. For this meal we went with a bottle of 2011 Musar Jeune (£21.50) from the Chateau Musar Bekaa Valley vineyards in Lebanon owned by the Hochar family. It is a mix of Viognier, Vermentino and Chardonnay with herbal and fruit notes and worked really well in context.

Whole Baked Sea Bass marinated in raw coastal spices

The restaurant specialises in grilled food so for my main course I chose the Whole Baked Sea Bass marinated in raw coastal spices (£12.95). This was a great hunk of a fish, stuffed full of herbs and grilled to within an inch of its life. Chunks off flesh suffused with flavour were falling off the fish with added excitement coming from the spice crunch of the skin. This was fish eating at its most butch…

Pan-seared Monkfish Tail

Pan-seared Monkfish Tail with tomatoes, lemon sauce and basmati rice (£12.95) was succulent and tasty with a tangy tomato and lemon sauce.

Stir Fry Okra with raw mango

For our sides we chose Stir Fry Okra with raw mango (£3.50)-a deliciously sticky blend of okra, onion, tomato and rice and…

Sesame Baby Aubergine with mustard and curry leaf sauce

Sesame Baby Aubergine with mustard and curry leaf sauce (£3.50)-a squidgilly unctous curry combo that brought joy to my heart on a cold February day.

These were wiped up with a date and ginger Nan (£2.50), light and fresh from the oven.

Coconut Ice Cream

For dessert we wanted something light. I ordered the Coconut Ice Cream (£3.50)

Tandoori Pineapple with Coconut Sorbet

and Fiona the Tandoori Pineapple with Coconut Sorbet (£4.50). The sorbet turned out to be ice cream but still went well with the burnt sweetness of the pineapple.

I’m really impressed with Namaste Kitchen. It really isn’t necessary to go to Mayfair or Chelsea to get fantastic Indian cooking. You are better off heading for Southall, Hammersmith or now Camden. There is a self-confidence to this restaurant that shows in their approach to the food and the way it is presented. Flavours are intense but not overly hot, everything is freshly prepared, service is friendly without being creepy and the prices are very reasonable. Go!

Disclosure: The Hedonist was a guest of Namaste Kitchen

Review-Coya

February 6, 2013 by Adrian 1 Comment

COYA Mayfair

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118 Piccadilly, London W1J 7NW

020 7042 7118/www.coyarestaurant.com/

Coya

When I grow up I think I want to be Arjun Waney. He is the restaurateur behind many of London’s more glamorous joints, creating stylish spaces with food that takes a concept and then runs with it-all perfectly attuned to the wealthier end of the London market. Whether it’s Japanese at Zuma and Roka, Provençal at Le Petit Maison, Italian at Banca and now Peruvian at Coya his locations and menus are grown up and sophisticated without being stuffy in any way.

Coya artwork

After a slightly chaotic start to our lunch with Google Maps sending us to the wrong end of Piccadilly, we descended into the surprisingly large and airy basement that Coya inhabits.

The Ceviche Bar and Open Charcoal Grill are blended in to provide some theatre.

Charcoal Grill

The look is ethnic Peruvian chic contrasting with London’s other Peruvian hangouts-Ceviche’s street cool and Lima’s urban style.

The bar at Coya

To celebrate our arrival we downed a couple of perfectly mixed Pisco Sours. They were so good with their trademark citrus kick that we decided against ordering any wine and stuck with them through most of the meal.

Pisco Sour

Peruvian food brings together influences from the indigenous population as well as from the Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and West African immigrant communities. Coya’s food concept is based around sharing plates with several menus covering different styles and our waiter suggested ordering one from each.

Lubina Clasico

We started from the Ceviche menu with the Lubina Clasico-Sea Bass, red onions, sweet potato, white corn (£8). Ceviche is a Peruvian staple-raw fish marinated for a short amount of time in citrus juice spiced with chilli (aji in Spanish). This was as good to eat as it was to look at-the fish was very fresh and full of flavour and not overwelmed by the chilli in the tiger’s milk dressing.

Conchas de Abanico

Our next dish was Conchas de Abanico (£12) from the Tiraditos menu. Tiradito is a serving of raw fish, similar to a carpaccio or sashimi and served in a hot sauce but with no onions. Our dish contained scallops, carrot, ginger and coriander cress and again had that delicious citrus and chilli combination.

Calamares Fritos con Ocopa

From the Para Picar (small dishes) menu Calamares Fritos con Ocopa (£8.50) (Baby Squid, Peruvian Marigold, Quinoa) were well battered and came with a delicious green sauce made with Peruvian marigold which tastes similar to mint and is known as Huacatai.

Setas

Anticuchos are skewers of meat,fish or vegetable cooked over a charcoal grill. We chose Setas (£4.50)-Forest mushrooms, aji mirasol and parsley which turned out to be a highlight of the meal. They were wonderfully rich and meaty with a slight taste of cumin.

Josper charcoal grill

Moving at this point onto raspberry and mango Pisco sours we moved on to the Josper charcoal grill section of the menu. Originating from Spain, the Josper grill is fast becoming a mainstay of kitchens in many of the restaurants and steakhouses in London. It can reach temperatures of over 300 degrees celsius, gives a good char to the food and because the grill is enclosed, the fish, meat or vegetables being cooked retain their moisture and flavour.

Langostino Tigre

Hopefully you can see from the picture that my Langostino Tigre (£27) -Tiger prawns, chilli salsa-achieved the holy grail of grilling, char and tenderness without drying out.

My dining companion the redoubtable Fiona from London Unattached gets very excited at the prospect of South American steak and so chose the Lomo de Res (£29) -Rib eye, chimichurri, aji rocoto salsa-which also benefitted from the caress of the Josper. South Americans like their steak cooked medium and this was a classic combination with the parsley based chimichurri sauce (a salsa verde with added chilli) and the fierce heat of the rocoto pepper salsa which she pronounced delicious.

Esparragos Peruanos

For our sides we had Esparragos Peruanos (£6) -Peruvian asparagus, panca chilli, garlic-which had been grilled to within an inch of their life but were full of flavour, and Patatas Bravas a la Peruana (£5)-Crisp potatoes, spicy tomatoes, huancaina sauce-.

Patatas Bravas a la Peruana

The Patatas Bravas were given a Peruvian slant with the addition of huancaina sauce-a mix of amarillo chillies, queso fresco (fresh farmers cheese), milk, garlic and saltine crackers that managed to be creamy at the same time as having a spicy edge to its flavour.

Chocolate Fundido

Having eaten a lot by this point it would have been churlish not to have dessert, and with our Pisco sours finished the matched dessert wines seemed like a very attractive prospect. The Chocolate Fundido (£8) -Fortunato Chocolate, almond, white chocolate ice cream-was perfectly complemented by the glass of Maury, Mas Mudigliza, Rousillon, France 2009 (£14). The hot melted (fundido) chocolate oozed in a rather sexy manner out of and all over the chocolate sponge but without overwhelming the wine, made from the grenache grape by the vin doux naturel method of mutage where wine is fortified with unfermented grape juice and grape spirit.

Lucuma Bavarois, Passion Fruit Sorbet

Our second dessert was a Lucuma Bavarois, Passion Fruit Sorbet (£8). This was paired with a Gewurztraminer Vendage Tardive Hugel, Alsace, France 2000 (£12). The Lucuma was described to us as a cross between mango and avocado and is known for its dry flesh, with the texture of a hard-boiled egg yoke. This was an altogether lighter proposition, sweet and refreshing and beautifully set off by the floral notes of the wine.

I’m slowly starting to get a grip on aspects of South American food and drink. There has been such an explosion of restaurant openings and the concomitant interest in Mexican, Argentinian, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine that it must be on the radar of anyone interested in the contemporary scene. The combination of citrus and chilli with raw seafood, the new varieties of potato and corn, the use of the charcoal grill and the ubiquitous Pisco sour are all starting to enter our food consciousness. In the firmament of this welcome South American culinary invasion Coya stands out as a very classy act. As with all of Arjun Waney’s projects the level of investment is there to be seen; in the location, the size and specification of the kitchens and the standard of finish for the interior. Whilst we were there on a quiet Monday lunch it is easy to imagine the place really buzzing with good looking South Americans and London’s well-heeled enjoying the cultural and culinary adventure that the restaurant offers. Did I have any complaints? Well, my teapot for my mint tea clearly thought it was a watering can, managing to shower the table quite effectively, but apart from that Coya was perfect.

The Hedonist was a guest of Coya.

Review-The Angler

January 22, 2013 by Adrian 1 Comment

The Angler City

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South Place Hotel 3 South Place. London EC2M 2AF.

020 3215 1260. angler@southplacehotel.com

South Place Hotel

The restaurant scene in the City has changed radically since Conran (now D&D) restaurants opened Coq d’Argent in 1998. Before then most places would be closed by 9 p.m.. The city gents would scurry off home to the suburbs or to the West End for some action. Coq d’Argent stayed open late, had live music and a postmodernist design aesthetic . D&D’s new City establishment South Place Hotel, reflects the new social geography of London. The cultural centre of gravity has moved eastwards and the hotel reflects this. It has a hip metropolitan New York feel with a sprinkle of Hoxton edge. There are seven bars and two restaurants and up on the top seventh floor sits The Angler.

The Angler

The interior is cool and understated but with some unusual touches as you would expect from the Conran Design Group. The cooking is similarly clean and precise but Tony Fleming’s cooking has the ability to move the heart of even the most hardened banker.

We started with a glass of house champagne and very soon a Cheese Sable arrived.

Cheese Sable

It was light and crumbly, flavoured with Montgomery Cheddar and set the scene for an intense and brilliant Cappuccino of Lobster bisque. This unexpected little cup of happiness told of a kitchen that meant business.

Cappuccino of Lobster bisque

We moved on to a glass each of Ailala Treixadura Ribeiro 2011 (£8.75) from Galicia in the northwest of Spain. Treixadura is the up and coming grape of the northwest and this wine is a single varietal only into its second year of production. It had a smoky nose with citrus flavours coming through and was wonderful with our Shellfish Platters (£24). These consisted of Mersey Rock, Colchester Native and Irish Rock oysters, Cherrystone Clams, Langoustines and Dressed Crab. The freshness and quality of the seafood was terrific and it was served with the necessary trimmings:tabasco, lemon, a shallot vinaigrette, a lemon mayonnaise and bread and butter.

Shellfish Platter

For mains I had Roast Turbot, brown shrimp, capers, butter and parsley (£26.50).

Roast Turbot, brown shrimp, capers, butter and parsley

The turbot was perfectly cooked on the bone and was full of flavour, the shrimps giving the dish an additional richness. With my fish I drank a wonderful Cambria Chardonnay from Katherine’s Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley, California 2007 (£14) which was full-bodied and elegant with hints of pineapple and vanilla.

Steamed Wild Bass, crushed potato, sauce vierge, herb salad

My dining companion, Fiona from London Unattached was eating Steamed Wild Bass, crushed potato, sauce vierge, herb salad (£24.50). This would make a perfect dish for spring with the flavour of the bass being enhanced by the steaming and not compromised by pan-frying as so often happens. With her fish she drank a glass of False Bay Wild Yeast Chenin Blanc, Coastal region, 2011 South Africa (£6.25) that tasted of pears and honey.

Black Cabbage (Cavolo Nero) and creamy Potato Mousseline

For sides we had a portion of buttery Black Cabbage (Cavolo Nero) and creamy Potato Mousseline (£3.75 each) which were perfect with the turbot.

Roast figs, yoghurt and honey parfait, pistachio crumble

We shared our desserts-Roast figs, yoghurt and honey parfait, pistachio crumble (£6.50) and Caramel pear trifle, Pedro Ximinez jelly (£7.50).

Caramel pear trifle, Pedro Ximinez jelly

They weren’t oversweetened and were in tune with the restrained elegance of the restaurant, however the glass of 2008 Brumaire, Chateau Bouscasse, Pacherenes du Vic Bilh Moelleux (£11.50 for 100ml) that accompanied them had plenty of tropical fruits and a cream and honey richness.

Pistachio Madeleines and Earl Grey Fudge

We ended the meal with Pistachio Madeleines and Earl Grey Fudge with my peppermint tea.

This was a great meal. Tony Fleming is able to apply his classical technique to top class ingredients in a very comfortable space. Service was charming and both unobtrusive and knowledgeable where necessary-in fact I knew that would be the case when I saw the legendary Wendy Vera working front of house-she is one of the great unsung heroes of the London dining scene of the last …years- and the sommelier made some great wine choices. For serious fish cooking in the City there is nowhere to match The Angler.

The Hedonist was a guest of The Angler.