Jason Atherton's Social Eating House

Jason Atherton's new opening in Soho is about a week old now, i only knew about it as a pal of mine walked past and informed me. I then found out it was Jason's after we'd booked it, which was a pleasant surprise as i'd loved Pollen Street. I kinda think it's funny how his new restaurant is on Poland St & share a similar name, i like it.

As the restaurant has just opened there's a butt load of staff, everyone's very attentive and we we're treated really well. Our waiter reminded me of the butler from Mr. Deeds (Adam Sandler movie) "Very, very sneaky...". He would sort of appear in the corner of my eye, crouched down promptly filling up my glass and asking if we were ok. It was really nice actually, they're on the ball, slightly creepy.. but on the ball.

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This is the bar upstairs, fantastic cocktail menu, cool decor & a friendly head barman.

It's got a fucking glow stick in it.

Gin & Dill, HIYA!

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Lovely light french Pinot Noir.

Duck "Ham, Egg & Chips"

This was so tasty, the chips were duck fat and really crispy and fluffy, the egg was runny and the duck tasted great. Really into this.

Steak tartare.

My friend wasn't a fan as it was too cold and the flavours were too full on.

Lamb neck, potato, garlic & parsley.

Sous vied lamb neck was great, soft, tasty and just fell apart. The potato was smooth and clean, the parsley and garlic came through heavily throughout the dish & i really enjoyed it.

Roast Cornish cod, kombu, mousseron, baby gem, cockles & cream.

The Cod was cooked to perfection but the sauce was apparently too strong and too salty.

London honey almond sponge, goat's curd ice cream & orange.

For my pal this was the winner of the night. Everything about it was really delicious. Sharp orange puree, a sweet orange jelly, a perfectly made goats curd ice cream with a soft moist almond sponge.

Lemon curd.

What can i say, it was lemon meringue, deconstructed. Pretty nice. 

 

I've got a lot of time for a good bathroom.

The special entrance to the upstairs cocktail bar.

All in all, lovely spring menu, well executed, cool decor and vibe & amazing bar upstairs. The wine's are mainly french and the food is modern french, i'm looking forward to going back once the season changes. My only critical comment is the weird staff uniform, very amish. 

You should probably go.

http://www.socialeatinghouse.com/

Steak & Wine Cafe...

The Roxie, the second restaurant opened by South African husband & wife team, originally with Fyre opening in Earlsfield in 2011. The opening of The Roxie shows the speedy success of Fyre, with their "Unique grilling technique", warm environment, friendly staff and cheap prices.. what can go wrong.

My friend and I came to The Roxie in Fulham after work one weekday, we booked ahead as usually it's completely rammed. We arrived to a welcoming staff member and we're casually seated, It was pretty quiet but soon filled up.

The menu is pretty simple, a few starters, a few steaks, a burger, sides & a few classic desserts. There's the obvious S.A infuence with beorewors on the menu. There's also the similarity to that of Gaucho's menu, with the Ecuadorian prawn ceviche, steak as a main and a Don Pedro to finish, but at a fraction of the price. Their ceviche is around a fiver and Gaucho is about 12 quid.

Full house, upgraded to large rib eye with peppercorn sauce.

Full house with fillet & peppercorn sauce.

Chunky chips. (Tiny wedges)

Med rare.

Free wine (My friend used to know the manager)

All in all, it's a good bit of steak, with nice sides, a really great atmosphere, great staff & most of all, it's cheap!

http://www.steakandwinecafe.co.uk/roxie/

Nobu Old Park Lane London

Nobu Matsuhisa, the well known celebrity chef who's famous for his fusion of classic Japanese cooking with Peruvian ingredients, has nearly as many Nobu restaurants as the beloved Colonel Sanders. But KFC, unfortunately haven't gained a michelin star as of yet for any of their establishments (bullshit i know).

I nearly fell over taking this picture, it was so windy.

When we turned up, i did feel like i was in the MIB entrance but a little friendlier. The staff all like to whisper which is nice, but makes everything rather hard to understand. They took our coats etc and we made our way up stairs and were greeted by a lovely painting of Nobu. This brightened up a terribly miserable british day, that or i was drunk off the pint of guinness i'd just downed.

Kinda felt like i should of got a picture posing with my right hand showing the peace sign. Nobu is coming across as a serious cutie. 

The menu was so big we spent about 30 minutes looking over it, i also spent 5 minutes showing my mother how to use chopsticks. She settled with a knife and fork, dont be afraid to ask.

*Hot miso chips* With tuna & Scallop 

At £12 you'd hope they tasted amazing for the size, which they did. I'd definitely get them next time. The texture of the chips with the raw fish is perfect. 

I can only describe the salad as awkward. Kind of like going to a party and not drinking, you're there.. but why? to look pretty? Because you have to be? 

...I gave it a go at least.

Shiso pimms. Good choice. Refreshing, fruity and light. Far too expensive though, at £13.

I always eat something before i take a photo. The food comes out minutes after your plates been taken. We had the soft shell crab roll (cut) and the spicy tuna roll (cut). Be-a-utiful.

Signature dish at Nobu. Black cod in Miso.

The waiter whispered to my mother and i that the black cod had been marinating for 3 days. He said a few other things, god knows what. My hearings pretty accurate, just so you know. Priced at £42 you're going to want this to mean business, but it was mothers day (day after) so it was a special occasion. 

The fish just fell apart, it was incredibly sweet which is why the lemon wedge was there. It kind of reminded me of pork in a way. The sweetness and the soft tender texture. It was really lovely, but i just found it too sweet.

Dover Sole with black bean sauce at £32. This was seriously delicious, both the fish where cooked so perfectly and delicately. I enjoyed the presentation and we shared both, with a bowl of steamed rice each. It was a perfect amount. 

Very rare im spoilt for choice on the dessert menu..

Warm chocolate santandagi (doughnut) with caramelised pistachios and almond ice cream. My mum loved it but found it too rich in the end and left half the pistachios there, but it was kind of a given really. Still, she loved it and would highly recommend it.

I went for the I-pple as the menu reads.

Manuka honey ice cream, green tea & olive oil sponge, yoghurt mousse & green apple compote (beetroot reduction)

Lets start with the beetroot reduction... pointless, i dont really get it. Apart from that the dessert was beautiful, elegant, refreshing and well presented. I loved the colours and flavours. Big fan.

Wafer thin... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJZPzQESq_0

All in all, i'd go back over and over again. I love Nobu and im glad where ever i go in the world, i can eat at a Nobu.

Thank you and good night.

http://www.noburestaurants.com/london/experience/introduction/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobu_Matsuhisa

Mishkins Smishkins...

E.Mishkins "A kind-of Jewish deli with cocktails"...

Okay so there's several things that attracted me to eat here, one being that i enjoy Jewish and american food and two GIN! As i turned up for a lonesome lunch for one at half 12 on a Monday, i read on their front window's divided into 3: SALT BEEF / GIN / MEAT LOAF.
Those are the kind-of words that light my young New Zealand fire, but sadly E.Mishkin's slowly extinguished that fire...

GIN

Cheese schmear. I lol'd. I'm sorry.

The menu.

Gin Ricky. Made with soda water, should of had a G&T.

Chicken Liver with Schmaltzed radish. 

Okay so when this arrived i thought okay cool, rustic, smells good, warm toast and enough of it. This should be okay, but there was a huge piece of onion skin poking out of the pate as soon as i dipped into it. Now i know it's clearly meant to be rustic, but that's not what i wanna be chewing on. It was a bit too rich and i got kind-of bored. The bread was nice. 

Meatloaf, soft egg & mash.

Let's start with the mash, first of all too much butter not enough cream or seasoning and secondly, no gravy? this better be the juiciest meatloaf in London then if no sauce/gravy is needed (no sauce at all was offered). It wasn't that bad but a few mouthfuls into it and i really did need some gravy or something wet to moisten this dish up and add another flavour to it all.

The plate was chipped like this in two other places on the same plate. During my experience as a chef, this would have been sent back. To some this may seem like nothing, but to a chef who would never serve someone food on a chipped plate, this means a lot. I think they're taking this rustic thing too far...

The egg centre. This was actually quite yummy.

"Rustic" I felt like i should empty the can and leave my change in there at the end...

Totally wasn't worth it. I'd rather go to The Diner instead for meatloaf, they might be a big chain but it's better (Ambience, style, music) and as for a place to eat salt beef in London?... Brick Lane, and no where else. A man ordered the salt beef beside me and was telling his friend how it wasn't very good, and for a tener i'd expect it to be RAD.

Meh.

http://mishkins.co.uk/