Red Market, Old Street

A few Friday nights ago Natalie and I checked out a new summer haunt at Old Street.

It's basically a car park on a massive roundabout but with some food stalls, canteen tables and couches, a bar and some sunshine it becomes the newest place for the cool kids to hang out.

There were a few teething problems with it being the first night - they ran out of wine so I was forced to drink mojitos instead - but it had a good vibe so I'll try to make it back there if the sun ever shines again!

Two bibs in as many weeks

Friday before last I ate at the Big Easy on the King's Road with some friends from work. As much as a restaurant where bibs come with every meal and eating with one's fingers is required isn't really my style, it's a fun way to eat out with a big group of people. Having decided to give it go, I donned the bib should and ordered a plate of half ribs and half BBQ chicken. The meat comes heavily coated in a thick, brown sauce which is tasty but over powers any flavour one might have gleaned from the pork or chicken but I managed to get through most of it with a lot of finger licking! With all the diners winding down from the week and a live band it makes for a very fun night out if not a culinary delight.

The gang from work

Ribs, chicken & coleslaw

Then on Thursday night I joined Kris and a couple of friends at an event run by Bea's of Bloomsbury: Crayfish Boil 2012. It was held in one of the warehouses under the train tracks in London Bridge. There were three rows of long paper-covered tables set out and filled with people when I arrived. We ordered margheritas and wine, and then it all began! No cutlery, lots of paper towel, more bibs. For £24 you can eat as much crayfish, corn, sausage and potato as you can get through. Once one pan is finished, the next pan is brought to you. Between the four of us we got through 5 pans! It was really tasty food and with a little help from my friends I peeled my way through several paper plates of crayfish. The corn was excellent too. Another excellent night that I would definitely recommend - I almost forgot I was wearing a bib!

The first of many!

The aftermath

Automat, Mayfair

Laura and I popped into Automat mid-week without a reservation and were pleasantly surprised to find that they have tables set aside for walk-ins. It is an upmarket American brasserie with three different dining areas. Dark timber tables and booths at the front, a shared table in the middle, and a light, glass-roofed area at the back where most of the diners were. We chose to sit at the bar at the back as well. It had a nice buzz about it and it's good to make the most of the light evenings even if it's not warm outside.

There a lot of classic dishes on the menu with a dedicated section for steak and burgers. But I found the macaroni cheese to hard to resist! It's the ultimate comfort food in my book (I'm remembering weekend winter lunches as a child) and delightful to find it on a restaurant menu. I ordered it with bacon (there was a spinach option as well). 

It was delicious with a perfect grilled, cheesy top. With a glass of white wine it was exactly what I needed in the midst of a stressful week!

Have the small portion if you are considering dessert.

Tom's Kitchen, Chelsea

After our cocktails, we walked on to Tom's Kitchen. I've been for lunch half a dozen times and always enjoyed the classic fare. Service is notoriously slow though. As I was taking the team out, I was keen everyone had a good experience.

The fillet I had was excellent - perfectly cooked as requested and served with cress and chips. The waiter remembered to bring my mustard when it came to the table without me asking which was a nice touch. Service seems to have improved.

The beef pie, monkfish, and the shared leg of lamb and shared chateaubriand also went down a treat with the gang. Sharing does make the meal more inclusive and fun I think.

I oddly wasn't tempted by the dessert menu so went for 3 scoops of ice cream.

Mission accomplished - a good night was had by all. We were the last to leave around midnight and were only subtly chivvied along which was good.

Definitely a good place to have up your sleeve for a casual meal without compromising on the food or wine.

Mark's Bar at Hix Belgravia

I had two cocktails here on Thursday night with the team that triumphed on The Reserve Club project at work.

The first was a Rhubarb Ramos - a gin fizz and kind of creamy. The combination of sour and milk didn't sit well with my palate. The Silk Road on the other hand was delicious.

Mark's Bar in Soho is my favourite so I was pleased to see some of the style from there had made it to this new venue despite it being a hotel bar, and in a Sheraton at that! It's larger, and more comfortable with couches rather than chairs. The menu is excellent of course, the bar snax good (radishes, salmon cases, olives, croquettes), and the same fantastic array of glassware.

It's dangerously close to my office, and dangerously pricey.

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.