Bread Street Kitchen, The City

Stuart, Kris and I lunched at Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street Kitchen on Saturday.

It's an enormous, industrial space with floor to ceiling windows and lots of different types of lighting to brighten it up. In fact, we thought it might double as a lighting showroom. During the week I expect it fills up with city boys wheeling and dealing but on the weekend it is relatively quiet. All the diners were seated in the same area so we didn't feel as if we were in an empty restaurant.

The food, especially the starters, were quite expensive and the wine was significantly marked up but I guess that was to be expected. Fortunately it was all excellent. Kris and I shared a very tasty flatbread starter with squash, capers and tallegio cheese. For main course I had grilled trout simply served with watercress and lemon. I haven't had trout for some time and I was reminded how much I enjoy it.

We finished with the dessert sharing platter having negotiated with the waiter that there would be enough of favourite picks to avoid any arguments! Which is just as well because they were all delicious. There was a rich chocolate tart with moorish salted caramel ice cream and honeycomb, a lovely moist cherry bakewell tart, a fresh and lively pineapple carpaccio with coconut ice cream and lime zest, a light Cranachan cheesecake with fresh raspberry sorbet and an elderflower and blueberry trifle. 

BEFORE

AFTER

The bill came to £50 each which was surprisingly less than I was expecting. The dessert sharing platter was actually good value at £18.50 and we chose one of the more reasonably priced bottles of wine, a nice South African Chenin Blanc, for £26 which must have helped.

Another surprise was how poor the service was even though the restaurant was clearly not understaffed. While they were friendly enough, I had to ask for our water and wine to be topped up more than once, and I had to ask for the pepper.

All in all a really excellent meal though, so I would recommend it. And also suggest going on a weekday when it would have a livelier atmosphere.

Ducksoup, Soho

Before you ask, no, they don't serve duck soup at this resto!  Laura and I caught up for dinner here on Tuesday night for what I suppose is more modern European fare. From the hand-written menu I chose the slow cooked lamb shoulder with saffron pilaf and a side of courgette while Laura had fish. For dessert I had poached loquats with mascarpone and lime (we used to have a loquat tree in the back yard in Toowoomba so I thought I'd see why the fruit bats used to enjoy them so much!).

It has a laid-back, rough-around-the-edges atmosphere and a record player where staff and customers play records to accompany their evening. The service was friendly and prompt - I like it when I order another a glass of wine, and the waiters bring it to you quickly. There's nothing worse than having an empty glass while you're eating!

It was good food - not great - but for £40 each with a fairly cool vibe, its a pretty good mid-week option.

69 Colebrooke Row, Islington

The bar with no name is a step away from the hustle and bustle of Upper Street in Islington. In a strip of high street chains and the same old franchises, 69 Colebrooke Row stands out. A couple of Sunday nights ago a few of us went to check out their weekly music session and listened to jazz duo, Viper's Dream over some exceptional cocktails.

I tried four of the gin based cocktails and enjoyed them all. The Barbershop Fizz, and the Rhubarb martini were particularly good. The bartenders' white suit jackets seem more suited to The Savoy but their work is just as classy. Black and white tiles cover the floors, the windows are blacked out, and the timber and red leather chairs help create a cool mood.

Because it's so small, and clearly very cool, it gets busy. The bartenders are as accommodating as possible and let a few keen patrons line the wooden staircase and sip a cocktail from there. It reminded me of the lively and electric atmosphere of the spanish steps in Rome.