Canteen

Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Rd, SE1 8XX

I debated about reviewing chains. You do have to draw the line somewhere. The point of this is not to record every single place I eat out. But on balance, when I went back to the core reason for doing this, I felt it should be included.

Lunch with friends on the South Bank would normally have filled me with a little bit of dread at trying to find somewhere decent to eat. I never seem to get it right round here. Luckily they chose, and thus we ended up at Canteen.

It was a good place for a nice, relaxed lunch. Unlike the rather full, hectic looking Ping Pong next door, it felt airy, bright and calm.

We got a couple of pints ordered and turned our attention to the menu.

The Menu:
If I had to sum it up, I would say comfort food. Roasts, pies, and childhood food like fish finger sandwiches. Perfect for Saturday lunch.

I ordered the macaroni cheese (as I knew I would the minute I clocked it - a fine, fine dish which I pride myself I can cook rather well). Mr PP did likewise with the addition of a side of chips. Our friends ordered the roast duck, and the pie of the day.

Our Meal:
The food arrived in good time, and was as good as we'd hoped. The macaroni cheese was delicious, cheesy but not stodgy, and great with a few of Mr PP's chips. I was impressed with the pie, which was a proper pie and not a stew with a crust on top. The roast duck was reported to be good, and certainly looked lovely.

Washed down with some ice-cold beers, it certainly made for a pleasant, leisurely afternoon. So much so, that I can't remember what the bill was. Mr PP generously took care of it while I went to the ladies - what a gent!

What we liked:
The restaurant, the food, the service.

What we didn't like:
Nothing really. It delivered exactly what it promised - can't say fairer than that.

Will we be back?:
Yes. I wouldn't make a special trip, but for a reliable lunch with a range of small and larger meals, it's certainly a convenient option.

Bistro Bruno Loubet at The Zetter

St John’s Square, 86 - 88 Clerkenwell Road, EC1M 5RJ

This night out was courtesy of our my very generous in-laws. We went with some of their friends who remembered Bruno Loubet from before, and were full of anticipation.

Mr PP and I arrived last, through the rather dreary drizzle, and were immediately whisked off to the table. The restaurant itself is quite comfortable, but a little cramped. Once all the tables were seated around us, we were blocked in and had to disturb at least two tables to get to the loo.

Service was a little slow at first, and I was rather desperate for a drink, but they soon seemed to catch up with themselves, and was smooth for the rest of the evening.

The Menu:
We liked the look of the menu, and there were quite a few dishes that tempted us. For starters, most of us ended up opting for the Onion and Cider Soup, upside-down Emmenthal soufflé. Mr PP chose the Mauricette snails and meat balls, royale de champignon and my namesake ordered Potted shrimps and mackerel, cucumber salad, Melba toast.

Onto the mains, and there was a bit more diversity on order. I chose Hare Royale, onion raviolo, pumpkin and dried mandarin purée and Mr PP went for Pan-fried breast of wood pigeon, cauliflower, almond and quinoa, giblet sauce. Our friends variously ordered Beef daube Provencal and mousseline potatoes, Confit lamb shoulder, white beans and preserved lemon, green harissa, and the fish special.

Our Meal:
I think we were all slightly disappointed with our soup - it was woefully underseasoned and really lacked flavour. Even the soufflé was bland, although it was technically very accomplished. The potted shrimps were better, but for me the star was the snails, which were beautifully cooked and very flavoursome.

The mains were also good, but not amazing. Mr PPs pigeon tasted delicious but I was glad in a way that I hadn't ordered it, as I didn't really like the combination of the constituent parts of the dish as a whole.

The beef daube was fine, and the mouselline potatoes were a beautiful texture but were served at a fairly tepid temperature. The lamb looked rather odd, like a big reconstituted lamb burger, and although I didn't try it, my friend told us it was delicious.

The hare, on the other hand, was fairly special, and my only comment would be that it was so rich, I shouldn't really have eaten it all - but I did. Strong, complex but complimentary flavours combined well in the hare, although the onion ravioli was neither here nor there, despite the excellence of the pasta.

The ladies passed on desserts, while Mr PP and his brother tucked into Rice pudding pannacotta and marmalade and Valrhona chocolate tartlet, caramel and salted butter ice cream respectively. The rice pudding pannacotta seemed like plain old rice pudding to me - but absolutely delicious for all that. Personally, I'm not a fan of marmalade (an adult taste that unlike anchovy and olives I've never developed a liking for) but Mr PP reported that it worked well. By this point, the richness of the hare was too much, and I couldn't even have a taste of the chocolate tart. At the speed it disappeared, I assume it was good. And my sister-in-law was very impressed by the ice-cream.

We finished off with coffees - I can't comment on the bill as didn't see it. As I say, very generous in-laws ...

What we liked:
Great service, nice surroundings, and great company. It's a very busy place, and good for big groups. I can imagine it's not so nice for a quiet meal for two. It was also nice to see Bruno Loubet actually working in the kitchen, rather than it just being his name over the door.

What we didnt like:
The food wasn't top-notch, and some of the dishes did disappoint. And it was a little cramped. Whilst I found that a bit of an issue, I am also cognisant of the fact that, due to the amount we drank, that the tables around us probably found us more irritating than we did them.

Will we be back:
I would safely say no. I thought it was fine, can imagine there will always be other places that are higher up the "To Visit" list.

The Old Dairy

1 - 3 Crouch Hill, N4 4AP

I've had a very on and off relationship with The Old Dairy. Mainly off.

When we first moved into the area, we ate here for Sunday lunch. And it was fab. So we came back a few times. And despite a complete inability to serve a decent roast potato, the Sunday lunches were great.

So obviously we invited friends to join us for a great Sunday lunch. Except it wasn't. And ever since they have been so inconsistent, I really can never trust them.

But my main beef with them is that they very often serve you food that isn't exactly what you ordered from the menu. Bits are missing, or have been subsituted. And they never, ever tell you in advance. Which I completely find insulting. If they just said "We've run out of houmous, can we give you some olives instead" fine. Instead you get a plate of half what you ordered plonked in front of you without so much as an apology.

And generally, it's hideously overpriced.

So why am I there? Well, yet again it wasn't my choice. We were meeting friends for dinner, and despite also living locally, they had never eaten there. So, off we went.

The Menu:
It was only on my way home from work, that I noticed the pubs were very busy. My initial thoughts that Arsenal must be playing were quickly replaced by the more accurate realisation that it was St Patrick's day. Luckily The Dairy wasn't too rammed, but they did have live Irish music (bugger) and as we were informed on arrival, an "Irish" menu.

What's that then? both Mr PP and I asked in unison. It basically amounted to stews, soda bread and colcannon.

It honestly didn't look much different from usual. Steak, burger and fish 'n' chips staples were there, alongside various typical British/"Irish" fare. They do have a good range of fish and vegetarian dishes, which was good as one of our friends doesn't eat meat.

We skipped starters and went straight to the mains. I had the burger, Mr PP had the (Irish sirloin) steak with (Irish) whiskey sauce, and our friends had the Irish stew and the vegetable tian. A rather nice bottle of pinot noir washed it all down, with Mr PP sticking steadfastly to the Heinekin.

Our Meal:
The service was prompt and efficient, if somewhat over-friendly. They always insist on calling us "guys". I'm 42. I'm so not "guys". But otherwise, it was very good - attentive to our needs without being all over us.

A big jug of iced tapwater and glasses arrived unbidden, which in my anti-bottled-water world is a big, big plus. Food arrived in good time, and there were no complaints. Everybody enjoyed it well enough, and there were four empty plates at the end.

But for what they charge, I would just expect so much more. It really isn't cheap, and just isn't good enough. They either need to improve the quality, or lower the prices.

In the end, mains for four, a bottle of Pinot Noir and a pint of Heinekin came in at just under £80.

What we liked:
The tapwater, the wine, efficient service, and the nice big booths in the dining area of the bar - very comfortable.

What we didn't like:
The music (Achy Breaky Heart? Irish? Really???), and the fact they couldn't serve us any hot drinks. The coffee machine was broken, so fair enough that they couldn't do coffees. But our friends asked for tea. To which they also said no, as they couldn't make tea with hot water from the tap. Could a fully equipped, functioning retaurant kitchen really not rustle up two cups of boiling water? Unbelievable.

Will we be back?:
The more the prices go up, the less inclined I am to go back. There are pubs I prefer which are closer to home, and I don't think the food is good enough. But I'm sure we'll be back sometime.

Hélène Darroze at the Connaught

Carlos Place, W1K 2AL

This wasn't my choice of restaurant. We were dining with long standing friends, and it was their turn to pick the venue. If being very honest, I would have to say I had reservations about eating here. The menu I looked at online did not appeal to me, and it seemed very expensive. I went in hope the information I'd looked at online was out of date (unlikely and a faint hope, I know, but still ...).

On arrival we were whisked through to a lovely table for four in the window. The dining room is very beautiful. Lots of dark wood and period features suggests a stuffy atmosphere, but it wasn't. It was beautifully lit, and created a lovely atmosphere. We started not with the champagne suggested, but with martinis. They took rather a long time to arrive, but were worth the wait. As ever in such establishments, the question was still or sparkling water. Thankfully we have long got over any intimidation into such waste, and duly requested our tapwater.

And then the menus arrived ...

The Menu:
... and it was the same as the online one. Bugger!

It didn't appeal to me, I guess because it included a lot of flavours I'm not keen on. It was also very fish oriented. If you didn't want to eat fish or seafood, you were left with two starters and three mains to choose from. A lot of the dishes were for two people, and a lot attracted a supplement on top of the fairly stiff £75 for three courses (coffee not included).

We fairly quickly moved on from considering the tasting menu, as a lot of the dishes didn't appeal. For starter I ordered Jerusalem artichoke cooked in a velouté perfumed with Iberico ham, fine ravioli of Basque black pudding, chestnut crumbs, lardons and croutons, traditional Balsamic vinegar from Modéna – 12 year old. Mr PP chose Blue lobster cooked in a large ravioli perfumed with tandoori spices, carrot and confit citrus mousseline, wild sorrel, spring onions reduction with fresh coriander and beurre noisette. Our companions both opted for XXL scallop with black truffle from Périgord, steamed around a Swiss chard leave, roasted Swiss chard, ham jus (£8 supplement).

Onto the mains, and I plumped for Irish salmon pink cooked pavé, green cabbage with bacon, Brussels sprouts, smoked herring emulsion with salmon’s roe. Mr PP and one of our friends both picked Black Basque pork, roasted with black truffle from Périgord, mashed potatoes, braised lettuce with carrot, roasting jus (£15 supplement). Our other friend chose Racan farmed pigeon, spit-roasted and “flambé au capucin”, grilled foie gras from les Landes, quinoa with Medjul dates and Sicilian pistachio, intense jus spiced up with Mexican mollé. Under most circumstances I would have had the pigeon, but I'm not a fan of quinoa.

Rather annoyingly, we had to order dessert at the start. I've never had to do that before, and didn't really like it. I didn't know whether I wanted cheese, or dessert, or how full I'd be, or any of the other things that you take into account at the end of the meal. Still, if them's the rules you've got to play by them.

I went for champagne rhubarb compote and meringue, Sarawak pepper ice cream, almond crumble. Mr PP and one of our friends picked hazelnut roasted and cooked in a praliné mousse, chocolate cream, lemon and thyme foam. And our other friend chose Manjari chocolate dark ganache, passion fruit wafer, passion fruit and orange sorbet.

Given the fish emphasis to the meal, we opted for white wine and settled back in anticipation ...

Our Meal:
As expected, the service was impeccable. Efficient, but personable, with no hint of stuffiness. Glasses were never anywhere close to empty, and any items we finished with removed promptly.

Our first amuse bouche arrived with the menus, consisting of courgette velouté with a parmesan foam, some breadstick type things and some ham on a slate. The velouté and breadsticks were the least of it, but the ham was delicious.

After ordering we were offered bread from a fairly impressive selection, and the second amuse bouche arrived. Foie gras with an apple sorbet and a peanut foam. I couldn't taste the apple at all, and the peanut rather overwhelmed the foie gras, but it was tasty.

On to the starters. There was a lot I liked about mine, but also a lot that I didn't. The Jerusalem artichoke velouté was beautiful. It had a lovely taste, and rich, smooth texture. But it was served slightly tepid - not cold, but not warm either. The ravioli were not terribly tasty and the pasta was a little bit crunchy at the seams. The lardons, chestnut and croutons were lovely, and did lift the dish. Our friends were not terribly impressed by the scallop, both feeling it didn't taste of much. The most flavoursome starter belonged to Mr PP. I tried some, but hadn't fancied curried lobster and I think I was right. Overall, an underwhelming start.

Before the mains arrived, we had a palate cleanser of avocado mousse with pepper and nuts. I don't like avocado, particularly the texture. I thought that might be improved by the mousse texture, but it wasn't and Mr PP had his palate cleansed twice.

I thought they rather missed a trick with the mains. The pork chop, ordered by two of us, was carved at the table. The table behind us. We didn't realise it was ours, so we weren't really watching. A little bit of theatre missed, which was a shame. The star of the mains was the pigeon (and I really regretted my decision not to have it). It was supposed to be served blue, but our friend had it pink. It was, for me, still very pink but perfectly cooked. The pork chop was also delicious and flavoursome. Also served pink, it was moist, tender and surprisingly flavoursome. The mash served with it was smooth and very rich. All this was nicely balanced with the braised lettuce.

In comparison, I was disappointed by my main. It was fine, but it didn't blow me away. I was a bit taken aback that the advertised brussel sprouts were actually five (I counted) leaves peeled from a brussel sprout (that'll keep your costs down - they could serve the whole restaurant using two sprouts). The salmon was cooked perfectly, the skin was gorgeously crispy, and the sauce was full of flavour. The consensus was that the mains were much better than the starters.

If I could have chosen at this point, I'd have had cheese. The rhubarb that I did have was fine but again, I wasn't blown away. The ice-cream tasted very bland, and I don't remember finding the almonds. The hazelnut went down well, but the star of the show was the chocolate, for the passion fruit wafers. They were really rather spectacular looking (apparently they require very particular skills) and tasted delicious.

Overall, for me, I think I found most of the dishes did not have the complexity of flavours that I expect from Michelin starred establishments. And as a fairly expensive menu, I had hoped for better.

We then retired with armagnacs, from the very impressive Darozze collection (I'd missed a table with at least 40 bottles on it on the way in!) and petit fours, to a comfortable lounge, with a fire and the Duchess of York at the table next to us. The armagnacs were delicious and actually rather heady. After that, instead of going on, we were ready to head home on a high.

The bill, including two bottles of wine with dinner and service at 12.5%, was £568.69 for the four of us. To me, far too much really. All those supplements really add up!

What we liked:
The company, the armagnacs, the dining room, the service.

What we didn't like:
The lack of complexity of flavours, and of course, the bill.

Will we go back?:
I can't speak for our friends but I'm afraid to say I wouldn't. Not even if somebody else was paying. I just think there are better places out there.

The Sandwich Box

4a Gillespie Road, N5 1LN

Back up Blackstock Road, to see a man about a door, again ...

Mainly because I wanted a long lie, and stayed in bed until the last possible moment, I ended up at 11.15am in Blackstock Road not having had a thing to eat or drink since I got up at 9am. So before finishing up with the door man and heading home, I decided breakfast was in order.

I popped over to the Star Express, cheerfully contemplating some nice bubble and squeak, blithely forgetting that Arsenal were at home today. It was rammed. Thankfully last week, we had walked down Gillespie Road for the tube, so I remembered The Sandwich Box.

The Menu:
As the name suggests, it's more of a sandwich/lunch type place, but they do a breakfast and a breakfast bap in amongst the baked potatoes, sandwiches and cafe specials. Full breakfast with tea and toast for £3.95 fit the bill.

The Meal:
It's a tiny place, and the only seating is outside, but they have some heaters and the sun is shining so I don't feel the cold too much. Tea, toast and breakfast arrive fairly promptly, all elements hot and tasty. The staff are friendly and the older ladies working there fuss over the young men having breakfast beside me.

The tea was so good another mug was required before heading off, so the whole lot came to £4.85.

What I liked:
The friendly service, good value for money, sitting in the sunshine.

What I didn't like:
Nothing really - it delivered exactly what it promised.

Will I go back?:
If I'm in that neck of the woods, yes. I doubt you'd get a better brew anywhere.

St John's

91 Junction Road, N19 5QU

Mr PP claims that it is not fair to review any restaurant on Valentines night. I disagree.

We've been to St John's before. It's a fairly good gastropub, in the slightly dodgy environs of Archway. Not too overpriced and a good wine list. They have a lovely dining room at the back, but tonight we were booked for a table in the bar. Although we've never tried them, having always been for a meal, they do have the most delicious looking array of bar snacks - oysters, cockles and crisps, baked camembert, patatas bravas, scotch egg and so on.

In general I don't hold with Valentines day/night, etc ... Mr PP has never taken me out for Valentines dinner before. I felt a bit odd and wasn't sure I would like it. In the end, St John's was a good choice, because they weren't doing anything special for it, and most of the bookings were tables of four, so it wasn't some hideous "romantic" menu, with red roses and couples everywhere.

The Menu:
As is traditional in such pubs, the menu is on the chalkboard on one of the bar walls, and had the usual array of gastropub type fare. Starters included several winter warmer soups and gamey treats, while the mains were similarly seasonal, robust dishes.

Mr PP ordered pig's head soldiers with a gherkin and parsley purée (£5), followed by the roast leg of lamb, roast veg, broccolli, leek sauce and rosemary gravy (£14.50). I chose the haddock and crab fish cake with a tarragon mayonnaise (£6.50), and the 1/2 roast peri-peri chicken with sweet potato, rocket and yoghurt dressing (£12.75).

Our Meal:
We were booked for 6.30pm, because they needed the table back by 8.30pm, so the kitchen had only just opened. We settled down at our table by the stove (nice on such a cold, rainy night) with a couple of pints and perused the menu. And then we had to wait rather a long time to order.

We just reckoned that front of house were probably staggering the orders so that the kitchen didn't get slammed, but in hindsight I wonder just how slammed a kitchen gets at 6.30pm. Finally, we did get to order, and then we settled down with a rather nice bottle of red from the good range on the wine list.

An hour later, even the infinitely patient Mr PP was a little bit fed-up. And very hungry. Not a bit of bread or anything had passed our lips, and we were now nearly through the wine. Nobody had thought to come near us to explain what the delay was.

We managed to get some bread and finally our starters showed up. When we'd looked at the menu, we had been more interested by the starters, but in reality they appeared a little underwhelming, but the proof of the pudding ...

Mr PP was a little disappointed by his soldiers, finding them lacking in flavour. The gherkin and parsely purée was punchy and gutsy - just the perfect side if the main element had been a little more robust.

My fish cakes were good - well seasoned, spicy and flavoursome, although the delicate crab was slightly lost in amongst all the other flavours. They weren't hot enough, and had only been fried on one side. But the tarragon mayo and salad were a delicious accompaniment, and overall the dish worked well. At this point I was so hungry I couldn't be bothered to send them back - but I should have.

The mains arrived in reasonable time (a bit of a gap from the starter, but we prefer to have a bit of time between courses, so that suited us fine) and were quite substantial portions. Starters not really required!

Mr PPs lamb ate well, and he particularly liked the leek sauce and abundant thick gravy it was served with.

My chicken was also good - it was very moist and tasty, and did not really suffer from lack of sauce or any wet component to the dish. The sweet potato worked well, and despite my misgivings, the yoghurt dressing complemented the dish.

Normally, we would only have two courses, and if we have a third it will often be cheese. But tonight we both decided to have puds. A rather nice dessert menu offered us a range, all £5, from the substantial (rice pudding, apple and berry crumble) to the lighter (queen of puddings, pear belle hélêne). We ordered treacle tart and clotted cream for Mr PP and chocolate blancmange with raspberry cinder toffee for me, with two glasses of sauterne to wash it all down.

The desserts were fine, but they didn't excite terriby, and did remind me of why I don't usually bother - I find desserts often read better than they taste. My blancmange could certainly have done with a touch more sugar, although the treacle tart was very light and had a good treacley flavour.

Two lattés and two whiskeys finished us off, but by this point the interminably slow service was starting to grate. We were both getting slightly bored with the too-long gaps between courses and having to wait for everything - 10 minutes to get a whisky? In a pub? Really?

With this in mind, we contemplated not paying the service charge. When the bill arrived, we had not been charged for the whisky or the desserts. I am undecided whether this was a complementary gesture or a mistake. I suspect the latter, as they would probably have been at pains to point out a goodwill gesture.

I felt no qualms about not 'fessing up - the reason for this is probably really trivial. But when we booked we were told we had to give the table back by 8.30pm. That was bullshit. Bullshit annoys me. Too often recently I've been told that the table had been re-booked when it hasn't. Well, tonight that cost St John's £20, and the staff their 12.5% of it.

What we liked:
Sitting by the log stove, good enough food, relaxing environment and a nice bar.

What we didn't like:
The slow service, lack of communication, absolutely freezing toilets.

Will we be back?:
We've been a couple of times before and it's been better, so probably yes. If nothing else, I really want to try the bar snacks.

Star Express

154 Blackstock Road, N4 2DY

Just what the doctor ordered after a slightly drunker than planned Friday night. Rather than being able to have a nice long lie, we had to be up at 9am to meet a man about a door. Having done this, in order to face the rest of the day (including a trip into town), a cooked breakfast was required.

We've never been to the Star Express before - there are loads of greasy spoon cafes up and down Blackstock Road, so we picked the nearest one and headed in.

The Menu:
Every conceivable combination of breakfast ingredients. Mr PP swithered between the Builder's Breakfast and the Mega Breakfast, and opted for the Mega in the end- 2 sausages, 2 rashers of bacon, beans, 2 eggs, beans and a fried slice. I opted for the No.3 breakfast with fried slice instead of toast - 2 rashers of bacon, mushrooms, egg and bubble & squeak. We both chose tea.

Our Meal:
The cafe was very clean and quiet - I sometimes find the necessity to have a tinny radio playing some awful commercial station really irritating, and was pleased to recover from the last remnants of my hangover in peace.

A nice strong cup of tea (obviously served with milk already in - there is no other way to drink tea is there?) was followed soon after by the breakfast. It was well cooked, and I particularly enjoyed the fried slice, which was not too greasy. The quality of the ingredients was good for the price, and I've certainly had a lot worse. In essence, it absolutely hit the spot. No pictures because we were so hungry we were halfway through before I remembered!

Both breakfasts, and some Kit-Kats and Dr Pepper for the tube, set us back the princely sum of £10.40. Bargain!

What we liked:
Clean surroundings, value for money food, the variety of breakfast ingredients on offer - I love some bubble for breakfast.

What we didn't like:
Not much - it did exactly what it promised to do.

Will we be back?:
If in the area, in need of a breakfast then yes, definitely.