Chutney Mary

Like restaurants such as Benares, Amaya and Rasoi, Chutney Mary falls into the category of Indian fine dining. It doesn’t possess a Michelin star, but it does have a New King’s Road location, fine cutlery service, a luxurious decor and prices that are ‘higher than-your-local-Indian’ to make it worthy of a fine dining classification.

We settled on the 6 course tasting menu which is priced at £45. First up was a scallop caldeen. A fat, succulent piece of Atlantic scallop, it had been cooked to a beautiful doneness that left it with an opaque sheen. The accompanying caldeen sauce had a lovely cumin and coriander kick to it, and it worked with the tomato and ginger salsa that dressed the top of the scallop. This was a masterful display in spicing and flavour matching. This starter was served with some lovely, fluffy naan bread.

Scallop caldeen

Goose galouti, a moist piece of minced goose meat kebab, had been spiced with cloves, caramelised onions, cinnamon and sufficient chilli to give it lots of firepower. The combination of spices proved to be quite exotic, and the accompanying blueberry chutney worked well with the spicy, hot meat.

Goose galouti

A piece of tandoori prawn was plump, tender and moist. It was accompanied by some strawberry chutney, which tasted more like sweet strawberry jam. The prawn worked better on its own.

Tandoori prawn

A piece of lamb chop was meltingly tender and flavoursome. A subtle hint of chilli and coriander gave it some character, but a heavier use of these ingredients would have provided the dish with more drama.. The lamb was again served with the ill-fitting strawberry chutney.

Lamb chop

There are three mains to choose from in this menu, and we selected the Goan prawn curry and the lamb handi korma. The curry included two jumbo sized pieces of delectable prawns smothered in a tamarind-rich curry sauce. The lamb dish, described on the menu as being similar to ‘osso bucco’, came with meltingly tender meat on the bone, and some mouthwatering marrow. The lamb was tasty, but in comparison to some of the other dishes, it was rather unexciting due to the lightness of its spicing. Mains were served with some warm spring onion naan (kulcha) and pilau rice. However, there were no sides of vegetables which was odd for an Indian restaurant and disappointing as the menu cried out for some greens to balance out the heavy protein nature of it.

Goan prawn curry

Lamb handi korma

Desserts could be chosen from the a la carte menu, and we selected the gulab jamun (dumplings in sweet syrup) served with buttermilk rhubarb ice cream. The dumplings were resplendent with the perfume of rosewater and the punchy nuttiness of pistachios. A mango kulfi was equally pleasing, although a few tiny ice crystals had formed in the ice cream.

Gulab jamun

Mango kulfi

With its intricate and accomplished flavour matching, the highlight dish of this menu was the scallop caldeen. However, as the menu progressed, the dishes seemed to make less use of complex spice combinations, although they were still very tasty. Some might prefer gentler, cleaner flavours, but for me, the essence of Indian food is the spicing. But ultimately, what let this menu down was the lack of vegetable dishes. Starters range in price from £8.50 to £11, and mains from £16.50 to £23.50. Readers would probably do better to avoid the tasting menu, but to choose 3 courses and sides, including vegetable dishes, from the a la carte menu to share instead. This would also come out at about £45 each, and you would also have the benefit of more choice.

On its own merits, the food at Chutney Mary was very good. I would have enjoyed having some vegetables in the tasting menu and more intricate spicing in some of the dishes, but overall the restaurant was a reasonable contender in the Indian fine dining stakes.

Summary information

Food Rating: 7.5/10
Service rating: 8/10

Price range: Tasting menu - £45. Average cost of 3 courses - £45. Excludes drinks and service.

Website: http://www.chutneymary.com/

Although we had not booked, we managed to get a table, which was a bit of a squeeze. The dining room is rectangular, and most of the tables are packed very tightly along the wall. The menu makes for difficult reading as well. It’s one long laminated list of starters, pasta, fish and meats, in no particular order, which caused us some confusion as to what were starters or mains. There was also a shortlist of the day’s specials attached to it.

Fish soup with Sardinian fregola

We started with a fish soup (crab, clams, prawns) with Sardinian fregola and chilli (£9.99). I am a big fan of Sardinian fregola, which goes deliciously well with fresh seafood and a rich tomato base. The menu listed crab as an ingredient, but this was hard to detect in the soup. There were two decent sized pieces of butterflied king prawns which were crunchy but not particularly flavoursome, and the clams were ok. This was a passable dish, but the soup lacked intensity of flavour.

A dish of trofie pasta with langostine, rocket and pecorino (£13.95) was disappointing. I had been expecting whole langoustines, but instead we were presented with a few tiny little cut up pieces of the shellfish. Furthermore, they did not taste fresh, but tasted as if they had been frozen. The pasta was cooked al dente, but the tomato sauce lacked richness of flavour and was a little salty. The portion was also very small. At £9 it would have been acceptably priced, but at £13.95, this dish felt like a rip-off.

Trofie pasta with langoustines

A chargrilled fillet of tuna (sashimi grade) with rocket and fresh tomato primavera (£16.95) was cooked to my requested medium rare. But it was a very thin slice and it again made me question the value in the pricing. The tomato primavera was pleasant and worked well with the tuna.

Chargrilled fillet of tuna

Tuscan veal stew with golden onion, thyme and tomatoes (£16.95) was meltingly tender. There was a nice gentle flavour coming through from the onions, thyme and tomatoes, but I would have enjoyed it more had the flavour of the sauce been intensified through further reduction.

Tuscan veal stew

We also ordered two side dishes of roast potatoes (£2.95) which were quite tasty, and some green beans (£3.75). There were barely more than a dozen beans on the plate, and we couldn’t help but feel ripped off again at the £3.75 price tag.

For all of the food above, a glass of wine each and tap water (free), our bill came to about £45 each including service (we did not order bread as this incurs an additional charge). This left a bad taste in my mouth, as I really couldn’t reconcile what we paid to the calibre of the cooking at Ricardo’s or the volume of food that we received. The cooking is not bad – it’s not like you can’t eat it - but it’s not amazing stuff. It’s simple, basic cooking, not simple in the sense of home cooked rustic stuff, just simple.

The service was ok, although they got our soup order wrong. We were initially given a lentil and crab soup instead of the fish soup that we had ordered, and I think it was because our Italian waiter didn’t understand English properly.

The food at Ricardo’s is ok but overpriced. Or put another way, it’s very average for what they charge. We really struggled to understand why it is so popular, but they offer wheat free and gluten free pastas which obviously accommodates people who have these types of food intolerances. But if you have no need to seek out wheat or gluten free pastas, then this place is to be avoided, as your money can be better spent elsewhere.

Summary information

Food Rating: 5/10
Service rating: 6/10

Price range: 3 courses from £27 to £38. Excludes bread, sides, drinks and service.

Website: http://www.riccardos-italian-restaurant.co.uk/

By the way, VoucherCodes.co.uk is a great place to find the latest money saving voucher codes and offers. They also have Tesco voucher codes to help you pick up ingredients
more cheaply.

For more details click on Putney Pop-Up.

The owner of the Phoenix Bar & Grill is Rebecca Mascarenhas, who also owns Sonny’s in Barnes and co-owns Kitchen W8 with Philip Howard.

And have you heard? Ferran Adrià plans to close El Bulli for good from December 2011 and replace it with a not-for-profit-academy for advanced cuisine!

We started with a slow cooked pork belly with roasted langoustines and pommes mousseline (£14.50). This was a really beautiful dish. The pork was meltingly tender and juicy, and the langoustines (3 pieces) were delectably sweet and firm. The pommes mousseline exuded buttery richness. Finished with a fine reduction of pork and langoustine jus, this starter produced a harmonious symphony of flavours.

Pork belly with roasted langoustines & pommes mousseline

A terrine of Landaise foie gras and leeks, truffle vinaigrette (£12.50) was less impressive. It was difficult to fault the execution of the individual components of the terrine. The foie gras was velvety smooth, and the leeks were tender and sweet. But with the use of the cheaper leeks making up half the terrine, I somehow couldn’t help think that this was a bit of a ‘cheat’ dish. The leek also drowned out some of the flavour of the foie gras when both were eaten together. Therefore the terrine would have fared better with no leek, which would have allowed the flavour of the foie gras to sing out on its own. This starter came with a little side salad which was very fresh, but it was hard to taste the truffle in the vinaigrette. The accompanying brioche was nicely toasted with a soft centre.

Terrine of Landaise foie gras & leeks

Saddle of Denham Estate venison, red cabbage and blackcurrant sauce (£22.50) yielded bags of flavour. The venison was juicy and tender and worked well with the wonderfully spiced red cabbage and the nicely reduced blackcurrant sauce. However there was too much cabbage for the amount of venison on the plate. There was also a chestnut purée, so creamy and decadent that it warmed your soul.

Saddle of Denham Estate venison

An assiette of French veal (£21.50) (from left to right in the picture: braised cheeks, caramelised sweetbreads, brains fried in flour and belly slow cooked in Armagnac) were all well cooked and provided a contrasting mix of flavours. The sweetbreads and brains were particularly pleasing with their lightness of texture and rich meaty taste. The only slightly disappointing aspect of this dish was that both the accompanying carrot and cumin purée and the sauce diable were over seasoned.

Assiette of French veal

Our first dessert was a generous (huge in fact) piece of apple tarte tatin with crème fraîche (£9) (which was surprisingly served on a cold plate). The puff pastry, being light, buttery and flaky, was delicious. The apples were soft and fragrant and the accompanying caramel sauce was too sweet, and had the effect of overwhelming the palate after a few bites.

Apple tarte tatin with crème fraîche

A chilled chocolate fondant (£8.50) was a classic rendition of a warm fondant – a rich, dark chocolate pudding with a soft core and a firm casing. However, being chilled, the centre was not as runny as it would be in the warm version. I had no complaints about the execution of this fondant, but on balance, warm fondants are simply more tantalising as they ooze more luscious goodness. The fondant was served with some lovely banana yoghurt ice cream and honeycomb.

Chilled chocolate fondant

Overall service was very good and polished, except that our water took too long to be delivered. Our waiter also got a bit confused about what was in the veal dish when he tried to explain it to us, but he was very pleasant and friendly nonetheless.

Apart from a few minor quibbles, the food was executed with flair and skill to produce delicious platefuls of enjoyment. I’ve always liked the food at Galvin Bistrot de luxe on Baker Street, and I’ve also been in awe of the impressive design of the bar at Galvin at Windows. And with this new restaurant, the Galvin brothers (kudos to them) have again managed to combine both wonderful design and food for their latest reincarnation. This is an ‘occasion’ restaurant, and it’s worth it.

Note that there is also a cheaper eatery located around the corner from Galvin La Chapelle called Café de Luxe. It has a cheaper and simpler menu.

Summary information

Food Rating: 8/10
Service rating: 7/10

Price range: 3 courses from £27 to £46. Excludes drinks and service.

Website: http://www.galvinrestaurants.com/galvin_la_chapelle

Foie gras terrine

The last couple of meals that I had with LD (at The Cadogan Arms and Le Café Anglais) proved to be somewhat unsuccessful. This seemed to have the effect of putting a dent in my ‘restaurant choosing capability’ as this time round she suggested (insisted) that she pick the destination for our next meal out. With a sniff, I agreed. I obviously don’t get it right all the time, but I like holding the mantle of ‘restaurant picker’ amongst my friends, even if it is self-bestowed, and it isn’t a title that I wanted to relinquish easily.

So this is how, at LD’s suggestion, we ended up at Marco at Stamford Bridge (sniff). The restaurant is a collaborative effort between Chef Marco Pierre White and as you might have guessed, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. The restaurant has the look of money behind it. The room is filled with leather cubicle seating and glamorous black and white photographs of celebrities from a bygone era. It’s dark and decadent, and if cigars were allowed, I would have almost hazarded a guess that this was an old-fashioned gentlemen’s club house.

LD and I both went for the foie gras terrine (£15.50) as a starter, which had the requisite creamy texture that befits a good version of this dish. However, while it was reasonably tasty, it lacked a deep foie gras flavour. The sauterne jelly that surrounded the terrine was pleasant, although the accompanying toasted brioche could have also done with a little more sweetness and a softer core. This starter was not bad, but LD and I both concluded that we had had better. Although we didn’t try the dressed crab, this dish ordered by a nearby table looked excellent and was generously portioned.

A fillet of fresh halibut (£19.50) was poached to moist perfection and dressed with a hint of lemon, olives and baby coriander for added aroma. This piece of fish was generously sized and executed with flair. However, it came with no sides, so a buttery and decadent side dish of mashed potatoes was called for.

Halibut

For a winter warming type of dish, I decided to go for the roasted poulet noir (£16.50). I rarely choose chicken as I think some restaurants tend to overcook it, leaving it dry. (Flashback: One example was at La Petite Maison London about two years ago when the roast chicken I had was so dry I had to send it back. Can you believe it?) But on a freezing winter’s night, I simply felt like nothing better.

The roast chicken (half a whole bird) was impressively tender and moist. Notwithstanding the size of the chicken, there were accompaniments galore. In the English tradition, the sides included some very tasty pigs in blankets (chipolatas wrapped in bacon), a nice creamy bread sauce, and some very flavoursome pan juices (of which I had to ask for more). Other veg included purple sprouting broccoli (in season right now) and potato fondant, both of which were very tasty but overcooked. This left the broccoli a little limp and the fondant a little too soft. There was also some stuffing of course, which I found a little too bread-y but otherwise, this was an enjoyable dish - a real hearty and filling English feast.

Roasted poulet noir

Dessert was a raspberry soufflé (£6.50). It’s not raspberry season, but I am a sucker for a soufflé and this was nicely done. It was finished with a drizzling of thick, sweet raspberry sauce at the table, which when eaten with the soufflé gave it an added dimension. Soufflés can sometimes be too eggy, but this version was well-balanced.

Raspberry soufflé

For a restaurant pitched at the fine dining end, the service was probably one waiter short for the number of covers. On occasion, it took a couple of minutes longer than it should have to get any attention. But the service we did get was very good, although the head waiter seemed a little snooty.

With the exception of the foie gras terrine (not bad, but not amazing) and a couple of overcooked sides in the roast chicken dish, the food on the whole was excellent, well executed and beautifully presented. I found the pricing reasonably fair for the calibre of cooking that we had. And the fact that we had this meal on a ‘50% off’ special through TopTable made it even better value (bonus points to LD who made the booking – another sniff).

These 50% off deals aren’t something I always indulge in (I’ve tried several of these offers in the past and some of the food hasn’t always been worth having, even at 50% off). However on this occasion, I couldn’t help but think what great value we had (this offer is currently available until 28 February 2010). The only real drawback I can think of is the setting. It’s nicely done, but it’s just a touch too sombre to really engage with the diner.

Summary information

Food Rating: 7.5/10
Service rating: 7/10

Price range: 3 courses from £29 to £52. Excludes drinks and service.

Website: http://www.marcorestaurant.co.uk/

Wallace & Co.

Wallace & Co is the new cafe/restaurant (opened about three weeks) undertaking by Greg Wallace of Masterchef fame. You know, the self-proclaimed “cooking woman’s crumpet”. The happy chappy with the shiny skull and the big booming voice, who along with John Torode, came up with some rather memorable (or depending on your viewpoint - laughable) turns of phrase on the show. Wallace & Co is located in Putney, rather than the more competitive locales of Central London, and it looks the part of a wholesome neighbourhood restaurant. It’s cosy, airy and spacious, and decorated in warm green and beige colours, it feels so homely that you can’t help but want to go in and sip a cappuccino or two.

The centrepiece at the front of the restaurant is a huge wooden table, littered with scrumptious looking baked goods. There is also a take-away salad bar, and, something that should come as no surprise, vegetables for purchase (Greg is a wholesale greengrocer after all – his business is called Secrett’s Direct). Behind the front section is the split level dining area.

The restaurant is open all day, everyday. The breakfast selection is available until noon and dinner is available from 6pm until close. There is also an all day menu (made of up salads, soups, pies, and desserts) which makes for an appetitising read. The restaurant is child friendly too – this message is clearly communicated with a smattering of kid’s choices.

We went for dinner and started with a selection of three salads. Priced at £6, this offered both variety and value for money as individual salads range in price from £3.50 to £5. We went for the Imam bayaldi (a spiced Turkish aubergine dish) which was resplendent with the flavours of soft aubergine, tomato, cumin, coriander and olive oil. A salad of pickled beets (red and yellow) was nicely crunchy and not overly vinegared. It was topped with some wonderfully pert and fresh baby watercress and goat’s curd. Only a celeriac remoulade with some tasty bresaola slighty let this display down with, a remoulade that was a touch too mustardy.

Selection of three salads

After such a generous portion of salads, there really was very little room for another starter of smoked mackerel pate with toast (£4.50). But the pate was well worth ordering as it was divine. Creamy, it was rich with the flavour of the smoky oily fish.

Smoked mackerel pâté

Mains were a rib-eye steak with chips (£15) and a grilled sea bream on the bone with fennel and orange (£13). The steak, while cooked pink, was disappointing as it really ‘didn’t get tougher than this’. The chips were lovely though. Triple-cooked, they were soft in the centre and crispy on the outside.

Rib-eye steak with chips

I asked for the sea bream to be slightly undercooked and it turned out perfectly moist. The caramelised slivers of orange were a nice juicy addition, and the fennel, finished with olive oil, worked well with the fish.

Sea bream with fennel & orange

At the encouragement of the waitress, we also ordered some sides including a swede and carrot mash (£2.50) which was lovely and creamy, and some spinach (£2.50) which was slightly overcooked and bland. In retrospect, we had ordered too much food. With the salads and the smoked mackerel to share between two, I was almost full by the time we got to the mains. Therefore, avoid getting sides.

Did I say there was too much food? Well, we managed to squeeze in a dessert, which was a lovely dark chocolate tart with vanilla ice cream (£5.50), a concoction presumably inspired by the sweet tooth of Mr Wallace.

Chocolate tart

Service was really, really nice and very sweet. Although one of the waiters wasn’t particularly clued up – it could have been his first day – he was so lovely that I would have forgiven him even if he had accidentally dropped food all over me.

Head chef is Tim Payne, who was once the executive chef at Marco Pierre White’s restaurants. On the night of my visit, Tim could be seen walking up and down the restaurant. On inquiring with one of the waitresses, she also mentioned that Greg is also there quite often and that he’s really hands on, something which was nice to hear.

Overall, the food was excellent, so it was disappointing to be served such a tough piece of steak. But this wouldn’t put me off going to Wallace & Co. again. The food oozes freshness and is handled with care and thought. It’s simple, uncomplicated food, and the portions are decent and the pricing is fair.

There is a rumour that Wallace & Co might be rolled out as a High Street chain, which I think would be a shame, as it would probably loose some of its wholesomeness and personal touch. So go, before it gets too big.

BTW, Happy Valentine’s for this Sunday! I can’t think of anything better to eat on this day than chocolates. Here’s some lovely heart shaped ones from Hotel Chocolat that you might want to consider trying.

Summary information

Food Rating: 7.5/10
Service rating: 7/10

Price range: 3 courses from £16 to £27. Excludes drinks and service.

Website: http://wallaceandco.com/

Sea bream

I first heard about the concept of a ‘bed bar’ from watching Sex & the City years ago. (If you’re a serious fan like me and have watched every episode over and over again, then you’ll know the episode that I mean). It inspired me to visit The Bed Bar in New York which didn’t look nearly as glamorous as the staged version on the TV show, and co-incidentally is now closed.

The Supperclub London recently opened in Notting Hill and incorporates the use of ‘beds’ as well. The iconic original is the one in Amsterdam, and from its origins there it has spawned a number of branches around the world. A ‘supper’ venue, there are also two bars to choose from, a string of eccentric performances for your entertainment pleasure, and a live DJ. The theme is outlandishness, and no better way to reinforce this fact than the staff who are all dolled out in kooky electric dress. I have never been to the one in Amsterdam but I thought it might be fun to try out the London venue so that I could test out its ‘supper’ element.

Situated in a former nightclub, the Supperclub is located in a grungier part of Notting Hill, right under the A40 on Aklam Road. The entrance first leads you into the greeting area, after which you are ushered into the main bar where there are lounge seats. You need to know your drink of choice because if you ask for a cocktail menu, then you might, like me, be greeted by a barman dressed in a sailor’s costume telling you that ‘he’ is the cocktail menu. At this stage the venue doesn’t have one.

Between 8.15pm and 8.30pm, the doors that connect the bar to the dining area swing open to reveal a very white, square-ish room, which, on the night of my visit, induced a collective gasp of awe from the clientele when the doors flung open. There are two floors, and there are beds on both levels which run along the walls. The second floor gives you a balcony view of the first floor, but this was closed when I was there. There are also ‘proper’ dining tables in the middle of the ground floor area (which I don’t think would have been any fun to eat at), and a stage located at one end of the room.

The beds are connected to each other and so it turned out to be handy that I requested, and got, a corner bed. This seemed to be in the best position in the house as it meant I only had diners to my left rather than to both sides of me. But it also meant my view of the performances (mainly drag) was obscured by some structural columns, which judging by the quality of the acts wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The beds are nice with lots of fluffy pillows. There’s ample room for lounging if there are only two of you but there seems to only be enough space for sitting upright if you’re a big group. The sheets are all white and so very easy to soil – if you happen to spill food that is!

All four courses in the set menu (£45) are fixed, with alternative choices being available only for specific dietary requirements. There’s just the one sitting, so all the diners (about 60 covers when I was there) are served at the same time with the advantage for the venue being that they can cook the food as if it is one big production line. We started with a broccoli soup with blue cheese foam which was pleasant but unspectacular.

Broccoli soup with blue cheese foam

Next was pan-fried sea bream with curried pumpkin and tofu. The fish was nicely seasoned and very fresh, but there was no discernible tasty of curry to the pumpkin and the tofu was very bland. The pumpkin and tofu was topped with some caramel, the use of which didn’t complement these sides.

The meat dish was steak with bok choy and black bean purée. The steak was very tender but very salty. The bok choy was over seasoned too, and when eaten with the purée which was also very salty, the dish became very unappetising. The flavours jarred.

Steak

Dessert was a chocolate ganache which was reasonably tasty, although it was a little bit sugary rather than ‘chocolately rich’. It was accompanied by an Earl Grey granite which was very pleasant, and a concoction that I was told was a puff pastry, but which resembled more of an soft cookie crumble that was best left alone.

Chocolate ganache

Like the cocktail list, the menu doesn’t exist. We therefore had to rely on the waiting staff to tell us what each of the dishes were. But this didn’t work particularly well as they didn’t quite know – I got a lot of ‘I don’t know’ answers to my questions - and service on the whole was unremarkable. It wasn’t unpleasant, but this wasn’t the service one would expect from one’s usual restaurant. We were occasionally given four sets of cutlery when there were only two of us. One got the sense that service here can be a little bit ad hoc.

Despite the name, food isn’t a main focus at the Supperclub, which on the whole was very average. But I did enjoy the evening hugely – the concept is entertaining, and it was fun to buy into the gimmick that is the Supperclub brand for the night. It’s great to try once, but I’m not sure I would go again for the ‘club’ experience, and I would certainly not go again for the food.

Summary information

Food Rating: 5/10
Service rating: 6/10
Fun element: 7/10

Price: £45 for a 4 course meal. Excludes drinks and service.

Website: http://www.supperclub.com/

Steak

In the time that I have been in Salvador, the churrascaria, Brasil Legal, has became something of a favourite. Unlike Boi Preto, the churrascaria that I talked about in my last blog post, Brasil Legal is no high end eating establishment. The décor is not flash. Here you won’t get any table service other than for drinks. There are no passadores (meat waiters) who come to your table to offer you meat. Instead, you must go to the meat station to collect it yourself.

Meat station

But what makes this place so great is the price. An all-you-can-eat lunch will set you back R$11 for the food and R$2.50 for a drink (total R13.50) which is about £5. When you consider that this is cheaper than a McDonald’s Big Mac meal which costs R$14, there really is no reason you should ever eat at McDonald’s in Salvador again. This place is cheap, cheap, cheap.

I don’t always advocate cheap places – I believe in quality over quantity. But here at Brasil Legal, the food is pretty good. The restaurant offers 25 different types of salads including a variety of fruit, 16 different cooked dishes, four types of meat (steak, chicken, sausage and chicken hearts) and desserts when available. Eating at Brasil Legal is a pretty addictive experience, especially when you consider that for nearly next to nothing you can eat pretty good food and fill your tummy to the brim. It’s a place that I’ve been coming to regularly for a late lunch so that I can eat myself silly after a hard day at the beach. In fact, I’ve been here about eight times, during which time I have sampled just about everything that the restaurant has to offer.

The salads and cooked meals change from day to day, although the meats on offer are always the same. The salads are good and fresh, and you can be assured of the freshness of the food at Brasil Legal as it is packed with people everyday which ensures that the turnover of the food is high.

Salad selection

The cooked meals ranged from average (I would avoid the pasta because the couple I tried were horrid) to good, and includes a mixture of traditional and Western type chicken, meat and fish dishes (I liked the grilled chicken, and some of the slow cooked beef stews were very tasty). The saucing is not the stuff of classic French techniques – there are no stock reductions, etc - but for R$11, who’s complaining?

To the meats. I usually found the steak here a little bit chewy and slightly salty, but it was tasty nonetheless when it was cooked medium rare. However, the greatest difficulty I had with the steak was coming across pieces of steak that had been cooked to this doneness. Typically the meat is cooked medium or well done, and when this was the case, I would usually skip the steak and go for the chicken which had a nice crispy finish to them.

Meat and salad

But the highlight of this meal for me was always the fruit. Typically, my routine after having two platefuls of food (the first being filled with salads and cooked food, the second with more salad and barbecued meats), was to stuff another plate high with fruit. There is always watermelon, which is usually very good. The pineapple, when available, is amazing. There’s mango, papaya and other fruits as well.

Fruit

So you can see why this place became a favourite of mine. Overall, the food is tasty, and when you factor in how little it costs, it really is incredible value. In fact, it’s probably one of the best value restaurants I have ever been to.

The locals seem to agree, for between 12 and 2pm this place is jammed full. Brasil Legal opens between 11 and 5pm (no dinner service) everyday, and from experience, it’s best to go after 2pm when the heaviest of the crowds have dissipated.

Brazilians don’t usually eat sandwiches for lunch, so this is another reason why Brasil Legal is such a popular lunch option. Another common eating concept in Brasil is the ‘Kilo Restaurant’ which offers ‘comida a kilo’. At a Kilo Restaurant you choose the food you want from a buffet selection and pay by weight. I tried one of these for lunch and found I ate less, didn’t enjoy the food as much and paid more than at Brasil Legal. After that, there really was no other place to go to for lunch than Brasil Legal.

Summary information

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: Buffet lunch - R$11 (about £4). One soft drink or juice - R$2.50 (about £1). Service not required.

Address:
Rua Afonso Celso, 152,
Barra, Salvador, Brazil
Tel: +55 (71) 3267 6152

Green for yes

Red for no

During my previous visit to Brazil, I tried a number of churrascarias along the length of the coast of Brazil. The quality and price varied, but at the better establishments in the bigger cities such as Rio de Janiero, the meat would be so good that I couldn’t help but stuff myself which would often leave me feeling sick afterwards. I don’t usually go for the all-you-can-eat establishments - the thought of a Chinese buffet in Chinatown fills me with dread - but a churrascaria adventure is like no other, especially for someone like me who has no stop button. People always talk about how fabulous the meat in Argentina is (and my experience in Argentina has been that you can get bad meat too, although when it’s good, it’s absolutely phenomenal), but Brazilian meat shouldn’t be overlooked because it can be quality stuff too.

If you speak to the locals, the two best churrascarias in Salvador are Boi Preto and Fogo de Chão. Both are Brazilian chain restaurants, and the latter has a reasonable presence in the United States as well (about 16 branches). Having tried the restaurant Churrascaria Plataforma in New York a couple of times, I thought the US had adopted this Brazilian rodizio concept quite well, that is, if Churrascaria Plataforma was anything to go by. But the UK seems to do it less successfully. The only churrascaria restaurant that I can think of in London is Rodizio Rico. On its own merits I found the experience to be underwhelming, and when compared to the real deal, well, there really was no comparison.

We ended up going to Boi Preto. We had originally intended to try Fogo de Chão, but our taxi driver convinced us that Boi Preto was better, although I suspect very little separated the two in terms of quality for they are both similarly priced. Boi Preto charges R$72 (about £27) for the churrascaria. But what was impressive about Boi Preto was the quantity of food laid out in the buffet. There were about 70-80 different types of dishes (cooked meals, cold cuts, etc), including many different types of seafood such as lobster, sushi and sashimi. There were also various salads. I was a little gobsmacked as I have never seen this amount of variety in a churrascaria buffet before, not even at the better ones that I have been to in Rio.

Food from the buffet

More food from the buffet

And more food from the buffet

It was difficult trying to decide what to eat. On top of the buffet selection, there was also the meat to consider, and if you’re like me, you will you want to taste everything. But one only has so much space, so it was necessary to strategise. So I went for the high end stuff, ie, the seafood. I had lobster, prawns, octopus, calamari and mussels. All were pretty tasty, apart from the lobster which was a little dry and the mussels which were overcooked and bland. I also tried the salmon sashimi and sushi. The salmon was very fresh and flavoursome, but the rice used for the sushi wasn’t quite authentic. I skipped most of the veg (as that would have taken up precious space), but I did have some of the heart of palm as you rarely see these in Britain (heart of palm is more commonly found in the Americas, especially in Costa Rica). Fibrous in texture, these were very fresh and tender.

To the pièce de résistance - the meat. Boi Preto offers nine different types of steak, two different types of lamb, four different types of pork, sausage, chicken, chicken hearts and salmon. In total, there were 20 types of meat and fish to choose from (you can ask for a leaflet which helps you identify the different things on offer). I tried most of the steak cuts and the rack of lamb and left the rest (chicken is chicken after all). The fillet was one of the cuts that I was looking forward to the most, but unfortunately it had been cooked well done. So while it was very tender, it wasn’t as much to my liking as the rump which had been cooked medium rare and which was delicious and flavoursome. I enjoyed this the most, but all the steak was of an excellent quality. As for the lamb, this was average as it lacked a meaty flavour.

Meat

More meat

And more meat

So my collective experience of churrascarias in Brazil is this: at the upmarket ones, the quality of the steak is usually of a very high standard, although my enjoyment of them has varied depending on their doneness. Therefore, I think the best strategy to adopt is to go for those cuts that have been cooked to the doneness that you like, instead of saying yes to every type of meat as it is presented to you. The meat comes at you thick and fast, and it’s tempting to want to try everything. But being selective about what to eat means you’re less likely to become too full too quickly. This translates to you being able to eat more of what you like! I prefer my meat medium rare, so it was useful to learn how to say this in Portuguese (mal passada).

Desserts incur an additional charge, and I don’t know why we decided to get one - we certainly didn’t need it! (Ok, we were being greedy). But the dessert trolley looked great, and it was too tempting to resist. We shared a passionfruit mousse (R$9.50 (about £3.50)) which was very tasty but was not amazing.

Dessert trolley

The service was polished, professional, and relaxed. Plates were cleared and fresh ones presented to us quickly and regularly. We were left wanting for nothing, least of all meat.

The steak was of an excellent quality, and most of the items I tried from the buffet selection (other than the mussels and the lobster) were very good. And with 70-80 buffet choices plus the different meats, there really is something for everyone at Boi Preto. And did I mention the sides? We were also given rice to accompany the meat, and there was also an endless stream of waiters coming around to our table to offer us other accompaniments such as banana fritters, chips or different types of risotto. For the quantity of food that there is, and the quality relative to the price that you pay, Boi Preto provides an excellent meal. It was also very good value by European standards.

Like I said, churrascaria dining in Brazil is a true experience. Just be prepared to roll out of the restaurant afterwards.

Summary information

Food Rating: 7/10
Service rating: 8/10

Price: R$72 (about £27). Excludes drinks, dessert and service.

Website: http://www.churrascariaboipreto.com.br/

Pelourinho (Old Town), Salvador

Pelourinho (Old Town), Salvador

To most Brazilians, Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia in the Northeast of Brazil, is home to the best carnival that this country has to offer. The one in Rio de Janiero might be world famous and the largest, and it’s great for watching, but if you want to join in the fun itself, Salvador is the place to come. This is the kind of city that Salvador is: a heady mix of party, sun, rhythmic music and caipirinhas that could knock you out. Brazilians tend to live for the moment, and no where more so than in Salvador.

Brazilians also seem to have very little modesty, at least on the beach anyway. One of my most lasting memories from my first trip to Brazil nine years ago was that they like to don the skimpiest, tightest swimwear imaginable - irrespective of body size. A conversation on the nature of beach wear with one of my Brazilian girlfriends confirmed this. “You have to wear one of those tiny string-type bikinis.” She advised before my trip. “People won’t stare at you if you wear one - they’ll only stare at you if you DON’T”. Right.

Pelourinho (Old Town), Salvador

Porto da Barra, Salvador

So I decided to leave my more modest beach attire at home and to shop for something locally. The trauma of trying on a myriad of the largest swimsuits I could find - some of which didn’t seem to provide any coverage whatsoever - lasted only about an hour. Eventually I managed to settle on one that was remotely passable for me. When in Rome right?

Joking aside, I love Salvador. The energy of this place is like no other. It’s intoxicating, and combined with the sunshine and heat, Salvador feels like sheer bliss. It’s so relaxed here that even an embarrassing (too embarrassing to share) encounter (like I said, the locals have no modesty) with a local gentleman (??) left me amused rather than annoyed. So as I write this, swinging in a hammock on the balcony of my friend’s apartment overlooking the beach, I can’t think of any other place that I would rather be. There are probably a lot of other wonderful destinations that are great for escaping the British winter, but for right here, right now, this spot is absolutely perfect.

I’ve also been quite excited about the prospect of the food in Brazil. But rather than the all-you-can-eat-meat gorge fest of a churrascaria that Brazil is well known for, it’s been the fruit that I have been looking forward to the most. While I never get excited about fruit in the UK, the prospect of eating fruit in a tropical climate has tantalised me for weeks. To me, the papaya in Brazil tastes better than in any other place in the world. And then there are those varieties that are native to Brazil such as the açai. Famed for its nutritional properties, it is rich in antioxidants, vitamin B, fibre, protein, omega 3 and 9 fatty acids and other vitamins and minerals. Purple in colour, it is harvested for its pulp (the fruit is rarely seen whole), and is typically sold in shops in a sorbet-type form with banana and granola.

Açai

Brazil’s most famous dish is the feijoada, a meat and black bean stew first brought over by the Portuguese. But Bahia also has its own specialities. Bahia had the highest influx of Africans during the days of the slave trade, and the influence from those times can still be seen in its cooking. The use of palm oil (dendê), an ingredient commonly found along the tropical belt of Africa and Southeast Asia, is prevalent in Bahian cooking.

An example of its use can be found in Bahia’s most common street food, acarajé. Black-eyed peas are used to form a ball which is fried in palm oil. Once the ball is cooked, it is split open and filled with vatapá (a paste made from bread, shrimp, coconut milk and palm oil), shrimp (eaten with the shells on) and pimenta (chilli sauce – optional).

An acarajé stand

Acarajé

The seafood stew, moqueca (prounouced mo-ke-ka), is another Bahian dish, (the state of Espírito Santo in the South of Brazil also has its own version), and it also contains palm oil. Its other ingredients include coconut milk, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro and chilli. We tried a prawn moqueca (for two people - R$31.90 (about £12)) at a branch of the chain restaurant Caranguejo de Sergipe in the suburb of Barra in Salvador. The moqueca was excellent with a rich, creamy flavour. The taste of the palm oil was clearly discernible but it did not overpower the dish.

Moqueca is typically served with rice, farofa and pirão. Farofa is toasted manioc flour and is commonly seen as a food accompaniment in Bahia. When mixed with the moqueca it provided the dish with a light, crunchy texture. Pirão is made by mixing manioc flour with fish stock and palm oil. It has a creamy texture, is similar to polenta, and has a root-like taste. It was flavoursome in a stodgy kind of way.

Moqueca with sides

We also tried a serving of bolinho bacalhau (salt cod fishballs) (R$10.90 (about £4). These were also brought over by the Portugese. This version was very tasty, not too salty, and had a nice crispy coating. It was served with the hot chilli sauce (pimenta) that the Brazilians love and which had a real kick to it.

Bolinho bacalhau

We also went for a serving of grilled octopus (R$29.90 (about £11)). A substantial portion, it was extremely tender, but a little salty. Caranguejo is the Portugese word for crab, so smallish crabs (R$4 each (about £1.50)) which need to be de-shelled are also available for purchase at the restaurant.

Grilled octopus

Caranguejo de Sergipe is a restaurant that is popular with locals. A casual sort of place, it was busy and atmospheric on the night of our visit. The service was very friendly, and with its patio seating, it was a nice venue to try some good local food while watching the world go by.

Website: http://www.caranguejodesergipe.com.br/

A sample of my bread

Some of you might remember my blog posts about my NVQ Level 1 cookery classes at Westminster College from before the summer. I did go back to Cookery School after my big summer trip ended in September. In fact, I even started NVQ Level 2 at Westminster - a course which I am about one third of the way through. The only thing I didn’t do was keep up with my blog posts, something that I feel a wee bit bad about because there were occasionally some amusing tales to tell.

So I have decided to end the year, and the decade, by capturing some of the more memorable dishes and moments from the past few months of college. I always did enjoy sharing my cookery school stories with you, so it will be nice to end the year with a little note on one other cherished aspect of my foodie life.

Level 1:
Top of the list of things that I enjoyed making (and eating) the most were the baked goods and sweets. My breads turned out quite good. Surprisingly my brioche also worked, despite the fact that I had never made it before and I was predicting imminent disaster. I adored the day that we covered sweet pastry for my fruit flans turned out to be a dream. We also covered soufflés and chocolate fondants that day, the latter being bit as good as the ones you get in restaurants, even if I do say so myself. As you can imagine, I was sugar-rushing it all the way back home!

Fruit flan

Soft shell crab

No less embarrassing, but for different reasons, was the day celebrity chef Paul Rankin judged a cooking competition in the kitchen next door. As fate would have it, he wandered into our kitchen as I was plating up my dish of lamb Milanese. The gods must have conspired against me as he asked to taste it, and of course it just happened to be under cooked - blue in fact. I could have kicked myself for I should have known better.

Lamb Milanese

Level 2:
Level 2 has been every bit as enjoyable as Level 1, if not more so for the greater challenges that it offers. Chef can also be quite firm. One particular occasion stands out - the day he made us cut paysanne of vegetables for about two hours. He wasn’t particularly happy with our progress that day so he pretty much screamed blue murder at us. Who knew cutting vegetables could be so stressful? When all was over he told us that we might thank him one day. He’s probably right because I don’t think I shall ever forget what a paysanne cut should look like.

But I do truly love my Level 2 class. Yes Chef is very firm, but he’s also very inspirational, fair and enthusiastic about teaching us whatever we want to learn. Furthermore, he regulary encourages us to taste each others food and to provide feedback to the other students, something we didn’t really do in Level 1. Well, I must say I took to this like a duck to water! Food blogging sure put paid to this - waxing lyrical about food. Or maybe I am in denial about the fact that I am just happy with any opportunity where I get to taste! Amusingly, (and it’s something that I am now minorly proud of), I seemed to have earnt the knickname of ‘Jaws’ from Chef.

Thus caps of a pretty fantastic year of cooking. I met the last day of Level 1 with great sadness but I am grateful that I still have Level 2 to look forward to next year. So here’s to 2010. May we all cook and eat lots.

Happy new year! xx

But once I got in, I discovered to my delight that the place looked absolutely fab. Glamorous mirrors with an art deco touch line the length of the elegant bar which stands along one side of the room. The restaurant is finished in black and white, the tables are made from a warm walnut, and the lighting is fantastic. It’s soft, cozy and sexy, all at the same time. Only the various bits of ‘art’ hanging from the ceilings seem a bit odd. I couldn’t work out what they are meant to represent, although I am sure they are very expensive. This place dazzled and no doubt it’s been designed to cater to the well-heeled clientele.

We started with a dish of devilled lamb kidneys on boxty bread (a type of pancake) (£8.50) which was gorgeous. The kidneys, still pink, were firm and succulent with lots of flavour. The sauce, a beautifully reduced concoction of beef stock, red wine and cayenne pepper had lots of kick. It was finished with parsley and butter, which added further aroma and richness to it. The boxty bread also gave the dish a touch of sweetness. This was an excellent starter and highly enjoyable.

Devilled lamb kidneys

Herring milts (soft roe) on toast with capers and parsley (£6.75) were dressed with a hint of lemon juice and olive oil. The milts, pan-fried, were meltingly tender and worked well with the lemon, capers and parsley. The dish was well balanced and light, and the toast, which had been delicately charred, provided a rustic touch.

Herring milts

Webster’s fish fingers with chips and mushy peas (£14.50) were very tasty. (The dish is named after Stephen Webster, the jewellery designer, who created the flashing neon fingers at the top of the stairs which lead to the equally glam basement bar). The fish was perfectly cooked, moist, and coated with a fine layer of crispy breadcrumbs. But while it was delicious, it was a little under seasoned. The peas, finished with mint, were fantastically fragrant and the chips were morish. This might have been fish fingers, but they were very good fish fingers other than for the under seasoning.

Webster's fish fingers

Flat iron steak (from the shoulder) with baked bone marrow (£16.50), served pink, was extremely tender and flavoursome. The steak had been browned beautifully to give it a crispy outer layer. However it was again a little under seasoned. The bone marrow mixture of marrow, crumbs and herbs was pleasant, but the flavour of the marrow itself was overpowered by too many bread crumbs.

Flat iron steak

Breast of veal with celeriac mash (£18.75) came from Bocaddon Farm in Cornwall. Given the recent hoo-ha surrounding Hélène Darroze and how she was using Dutch veal - despite the fact that her waiters claimed that the veal was British - I was impressed that Hix was sourcing his veal from British suppliers.

This was a mixed dish for me. The veal had been rolled and braised slowly for about three hours and then sliced. The first few bites gave way to an incredible taste sensation - one of moist, soft, tender meat flavoured with thyme and married with a rich red wine reduction. But while the first few bites were wondrous (no doubt helped by the layer of fat that wrapped itself around the meat), as you neared the centre of the roll, the meat became slightly drier. I still considered this to be a very good dish, but the texture of the meat changed overtime and it became slightly less enjoyable. The celeriac mash was well made. It was creamy with lots of celeriac flavour, but personally, celeriac is not my favourite ingredient for mash.

Breast of Bocaddon veal

We had no room for dessert which was very unusual for me, and I suspect that the recent excesses of the silly season was the reason for this. But I am sure the dessert would have been every bit as excellent as the rest of the food that we had. This was classy, skilful and refined British cooking. There was a great display of finesse, and from memory, the food was tastier than Hix’s Oyster and Chop House in Farringdon. The service was pleasant and reasonably efficient, but on occasions we were disappointingly kept waiting while some of the staff congregated in the back corner of the restaurant to chat.

Nevertheless this restaurant is a winner (in both design and food). It’s not necessarily cheap (a fillet steak will set you back about £35), but Hix Soho is well worth trying - if you can find your way through the front door.

And finally, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Happy eating!

Summary information

Food Rating: 8/10
Service rating: 6/10

Price range: £28 to £53 for 3 courses.

Website: http://www.hixsoho.co.uk/