Dinner with several cocktails and wine: £60.00 per person

Well it’s been months since I’ve last posted.  My excuse is that I’ve recently become a full-time rather than a part-time expat so I’ve been running around doing things like finding a place to live and figuring out the NHS.  I haven’t stopped eating during this time however, and I now have a back log of posts to put through.

It’s been so long since I’ve put a post up that this review is for a restaurant that has unfortunately burned to the ground since I last ate there.

The East Room is (was) in theory a private member’s club which you could – if you were in the know – make a reservation to have dinner in their restaurant.  Having never been to a private supper club I had all sorts of strange expectations.  Russian oligarchs, Saudi Princes, Geishas, etc.  The actual club however was full of regular looking punters like myself.  A few looked like they might have come from work in the City – ties and jackets – but aside from that there was not much on display to make you feel like outclassed or out of place.  It was a very welcoming space in fact.

Spread over several floors the club was done up with understated style.  Exposed brick, comfortable leather chairs, low low light (e.g. excuse for the terrible photos).  Even the loos were super stylish.  The staff were lovely and the entire evening was marked by excellent, unhurried service.

We started with some cocktails and I was pleased to find that the bartender made an absolutely perfect perfect Manhattan.  So much so that I had several.

Ceviche of single scallop

For my starter I ordered the scallop ceviche.  I love a good ceviche and had high hopes for mine.  I expected the scallops to be super fresh and sweet – which they were.  Only they is a misnomer because – as the photo shows – I am pretty sure I was served ceviche of one single scallop.  The lights were so low and the portion so small that at first I didn’t realize there was actually anything on my plate.  It was delicious – but the portion size was so miserly that I would not recommend ordering it.

While waiting for my main I went through a mental note of what I had at home in the fridge as I figured I would leave half starved to death.  Luckily I was not to be disappointed either by the portion size or quality of my Crab Linguini.

Crab Linguini

The photo is simply terrible.  The dish was divine.  Fresh linguini with saffron and crab.  It was really special.  Easily the single best serving of pasta I have had in London.  I was already plotting my return visit to have it again when I heard the terrible news that the East Room was destroyed by fire.  Such a shame.  They do have plans to reopen and when they do you should go there.

The East Room
2a Tabernacle St
Shoreditch, EC2A 4LU

Sunday lunch for 1: £16.00

Up until my recent trip to York the farthest north I had ever been in Britain was Oxford.  I kept hearing that York was a really pretty city, full of history, nice church, etc.  And since it’s just about 2 hours by train from London I decided to make a weekend of it.

York Minster

York is indeed a really pretty city.  The Minster is amazing and its definitely a fun place to spend a weekend, especially since there are plenty of great little independent pubs and tea shops to hang out in.  I managed to have both really good and unfortunately some incredibly mediocre food.  My favorite meal in York happened also to be my last.

I had been out the evening before with a friend and we had sampled a couple of York’s better pubs.  And when I was woken up on Sunday by the bells of the Minster I was definitely craving something substantial (read – heavy and fatty) so I headed out in search of a traditional roast.

Melton’s and Melton’s Too are both listed in all the guidebooks as great places to have traditional English fare and so I assumed I would find myself in a kind of musty old fashioned English carvery type deal with horrible wall to wall carpeting and buffet line.  I was so very very wrong.  The restaurant is modern and minimal inside while still feeling cozy – dark wood floors, white walls, neutral tones.

To start I order smoked haddock carpaccio with aubergine pickle.  Smoked haddock is not something I’ve ever come across in the States and its my new favorite smoked fish.  The good stuff I find is never too salty or smokey or strong – its a nice mild smoked fish.  And this particular haddock was divine.

Smoked Haddock Carpaccio with Aubergine Pickle

It had a light smokey flavor and the pickle added just the right touch of acid to the dish.  I could’ve just eaten several more servings of it and forgotten about the rest of the meal.

And then the roast.  I am not a huge beef or chicken eater but I do love a good roast pork.   Melton’s uses a lot of local produce.  I like when restaurants tell you where they source their food from.  This pork was from Thirsk in Yorkshire and it apparently led a happy and fulfilling life before becoming my lunch.

Roast Pork with all the trimmings

It was scrumptious.  A generous amount of crispy crackling and moist and flavorful meat.  It was sooooo goood.   This was also my very first Yorkshire pudding and seriously, I could live on them.   What a great idea.  My only complaint about the meal was that the potatoes were almost completely dry, like they had been cooked in a blast furnace. They were the only let down of the meal though.

All this food, with great service and tab of only £16.00.  Definitely a keeper.  Its a good thing I can’t just pop over every Sunday for lunch or I would which would be absolutely terrible for my arteries.

If you’re visiting York and you want some good English fare done well then you should avoid the carveries closer to the center of town and head over to Melton’s Too instead.

Melton’s Too
25 Walmgate
York, YO1 9TX

Dinner for one with several glasses of wine:  £42.00

I’ve come to Lynton in Exmoor National Park, Devon to see if I can find some of that romantic rocky English coastline I’ve read about and to stuff myself full of seafood.  This is my first real outing on my own in England and so far so good.  I’ve managed to tackle the absolutely insanely steep hills in my car without bursting in to tears or driving into the sea so when I arrive in Lynton I am in a fabulous mood.

After checking into my B&B I wander around town looking for a meal. I stop into what is supposed to be the best restaurant around, the St. Vincent House to see about booking a table.  The owner who is also the chef tells me – without ever looking at his reservation book – that they are completely full all weekend seconds after I watch him take a booking for a table of 2 and giving the couple options on the time to eat.  His code for I ain’t wasting a whole table on one single girl.  Scratch that one off of the list.  Dejected I ask for advice from the proprietress of my B&B. She recommends a relatively new place in town called On The Steps.

The restaurant itself is literally situated on a set of stairs tucked into a tiny little space.  The interior is cozy without being stuffy.  It has exposed wood beams, an old fireplace and simple wooden tables.

The nice man who greets me – turns out to be the owner and executive chef – hands me a menu on a single piece of paper.  This is always a good sign at a seafood restaurant.  It always concerns me when a place serving fish has a laminated menu in a big leather folder.  That usually means that they are serving you whatever they got whether it is fresh or in season (i.e. its all frozen and comes from a large corporate distributor).  The chef explains that they change the menu daily based upon what they buy in the morning from the local fisherman.  This is a very good sign.

Amuse-bouche

While I am perusing the menu I am provided with an amuse.  It was a lovely little melon foam.  I am normally a hater of foams but this was a nice pallet cleanser and it perked up my appetite.

Lundy Squid with Pernod Veloute and Samphire Grass

For my starter I have Lundy squid with Pernod veloute and samphire grass. This was quite possibly the most perfectly cooked squid I have ever had.  Just lightly lightly grilled it was sweet and not at all chewy.  It might also just be that it was the freshest squid I have ever eaten as Lundy Island is just due west of Lynton.

Samphire grass which I’d never had before gave the dish all the salt it needed and the pernod based butter sauce tied it all together.  There was just a hint of anise that did not overpower the dish.  It was simply great.  I sat there smiling at my plate like an idiot.

Grey Mullet with Crab Cake and Watercress Puree

My main course had more fantastically fresh, expertly prepared, locally sourced goodies.  Line caught grey mullet perched precariously on a crab cake that was all crab and no filler.  It could have used a little hit of acid but overall it too was excellent.

I ended the meal with a cheese plate which consisted of local Devonshire cheeses and a glass of Muscat. Anyone who knows me knows that this is precisely my idea of heaven.

When I told a good friend of mine who is quite the foodie of my weekend plans for hiking and excellent food in Devon he had warned me that I should expect to suffer nothing but horrible microwaved pap in any restaurant in the English countryside. Clearly he’s not been spending much time outside of London these days. There was no microwave in this restaurant I am sure.

It was really clear to me that the chef/owner really cares about the food he serves and the experience his customers have.  I will go back to Lynton just to eat here again.

On The Steps
Church Steps
Church Hill
Lynton, EX35
P: 01598 753614
(they have no website that I can find)

Lunch for 2 with beer: £23.00

Its about time I got out and about in Britain.  Its not all London after all.  Luckily I am not the only one who’s not seen much outside the capital.  Some of my English friends have missed whole swathes of the countryside and luckily they have cars!

One such friend is Martin who has somehow – up until now of course – never been to the Cotswolds.  So on a recent Saturday we set off on a mission to overdose on pretty.

Our first stop was Mister Lovell which is close to Oxford but is pretty darn empty.  No coaches could possibly make it into the village so it is fairly unspoiled.  The reason to come here is the ruin of Lovell Hall which is situated in an idyllic setting on the edge of a wood by a stream.

Lovell Hall

It took us quite a while to find it (turns out its right behind the church – which is also nice to visit) but it was well worth the effort.  It would be a great place to have a picnic, but bring your food with you as I did not see any shops in the village.

Our next stop was Burford which is (as are all the Cotswolds villages) pretty, but it is also crammed full of other tourists all gawking at the sagging cottages.

The high street all seemed a little much so we headed off onto a side street to the Angel for lunch.  Not too far off of the beaten path it is nevertheless a complete contrast to the hustle and bustle of the high street.  The pub itself is elfin in proportions.  I am considered to be quite short and I am pretty sure I could have reached up and touched the ceiling.  It was quite cozy and I was prepared to tuck into a table by the fireplace when the landlord suggested the garden in the back.

This was no London pub beer garden (read concrete square with table on it).  This was a proper garden filled with flowers and birdsong.  There are several tables but they are all well spaced out so you’ve got plenty of room to relax.

Knowing that we would be stopping somewhere later that day for a cream tea I opted for a simple ploughman’s with Stilton.

Ploughman's

I expected something really simple and dull so was well pleased when my lunch arrived.  Everything about it was just right.  The bread was a hearty country style (no bagged bread here).   There was ample salad, really good cheese and we suspect that the “pickle” was house made.  All in all a very good country lunch.  I was well fortified for the next 300 small villages it felt like we visited that day.

They also have an interesting looking dinner menu which you can order from during lunch.  I would definitely stop by again, if ever I find myself in Burford.

Smurf Cottages, Broadway

Other places that you should definitely go to in the Cotswolds are the Slaughters and Broadway.  Avoid Bourton on the Water at all costs as it has been turned into a horrible Cotswolds theme park.

The Angel
14 Whitney St
Burford, Oxfordshire
OX18 4SN

Dinner for 1 with a glass of wine: £34.00

All I want for dinner is fish.  I am dreaming of a simple grilled fillet with a little white wine, garlic and lemon.  Geale’s is a restaurant that is often recommended for more than its fish and chips and it is close to my flat so I got my self all excited for a healthy meal.

The restaurant has a very elegant interior, happily lacking any silly nautical theme.  But it is such a lovely evening that I opt to dine Al fresco.  The street in front saw maybe one or two cars pass by over the course of my meal so it is a good place to take advantage of the sidewalk tables on a summer evening.

House Cured Salmon

I started with the house cured salmon with blini and creme fraiche.   The salmon was fresh and briney without being too salty.   I hate it when a restaurant calls something it isn’t and so I was happy to have a genuine buckwheat blini rather than a white flour pancake being passed off as one.

After the success of the starter I was really looking forward to my main – scampi.  I had gone hoping to order fish but to have a fillet of anything that was not deep fried I would have had to order a whole fish which just seemed greedy for one person.  Instead I settled on the scampi thinking “What’s the next best thing to fish in butter and garlic? Shrimp in butter in garlic”.  Oh yes it was going to be light and fresh and relatively healthy.

My not so scampi

And then my waiter brought me a plate of deep fried shrimp with tartar sauce.  Clearly the British have a different definition of scampi then we do in the US.  I have learned a lesson here – always ask how something is prepared – ALWAYS.  It was perfectly good deep fried shrimp – but the last thing I wanted was deep fried anything.

New potatoes and spinach

The sides were good and since they were not deep fried I concentrated on them so as to minimize the artery hardening being caused by the scampi.

The service was lovely and I will definitely go back.    This is a very good place to go to on your own for a relaxing, civilized meal.  Next time however – gluttony be damned – I will be ordering a whole grilled fish.

Book I was reading: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

Geale’s
2 Farmer St.
London, W8 7SN