It's been a pretty good month for eating out with trips to Acme Fire Cult, the Corinthia London, both the Rows (One Club Row and Row on 5) among others.
Acme Fire Cult (Dalston) - Lamb pie
There’s pretty much always some sort of pie on the menu at Andrew Clarke’s Dalston restaurant. On the Easter Sunday that we dropped in it turned out to be this beauty of a dish - a wild garlic and lamb pie. Featuring slow-cooked lamb shank, peas, fennel, white wine and foraged wild garlic and then topped with a crispy suet crust it fed three of us (and a dog) very happily.
Brunswick House (Vauxhall) - Chicken with clams
At Jackson Boxer’s beautiful Vauxhall restaurant, to celebrate its 15th birthday we enjoyed one of the longstanding dishes on the menu. Whole Suffolk Chicken to share is served with Dorset Cockles, a Brazilian-inspired Moqueca Broth and Jalapeño Pistou. Go now while the wisteria is out, making the restaurant even more enchanting than normal.
The Garden at Corinthia London (Area) - The tiramisu trolley
While this alfresco spot in the heart of the Corinthia London is a lovely place to be all year round, it’s particularly nice in the late spring/early summer. Our lunch here featured many high points - a gorgeous crab salad and a very good piece of halibut, but our love of a bit of tableside theatre made the arrival of the tiramisu trolley our favourite part of the meal.
The White Horse (Mayfair) - Scotch egg with mustard fruit puree
A return visit to the wine bar on Shepherd Market run by the Hedonism Wines team had us failing abjectly at their blind wine test, but consoling ourselves with some excellent bar food, which included a very good Scotch egg.
Tasca (Bethnal Green) - Brixham crab with pepper butter on baguette
One of our best meals of April was at this year-long residency in Bethnal Green where just one of a series of brilliant dishes included these baguette slices topped with an amazing butter featuring 10 different peppercorns and lots of lovely fresh Devon crab.
Sushi Shop (Across London) - the Umami box
Going out is fun, but if you’re ever in the mood to stay at home and binge-watch something stupid, you might want to think about ordering a box of this sushi in for a top night in. It’s the latest collection from high-end sushi takeaway company Sushi Shop, and the 22-piece set includes shiitake maki, chicken chipotle roll and tuna and foie gras sushi.
27 Old Compton Street (Soho) - Mushroom and truffle lasagna
The arrival of a budget-friendly pasta restaurant in the heart of Soho gladdened our hearts this month. One of our favourites from a series of fresh pasta options was this earthy dish of mushroom and truffle that arrived at our table still bubbling from the oven.
Perilla (Stoke Newington) - Beer battered cod cheeks
A long-overdue return visit to Ben Marks and Matt Emerson’s North London restaurant kicked off in barnstorming style with this snack platter of cod cheeks in the lightest of beer batters served up with a bowl of chip shop curry sauce as well as some deeply moreish salted gooseberries.
Tom Brown at The Capital (Knightsbridge) - Crab custard
If there’s a savoury custard on the menu, we always order it and we weren’t disappointed by this seafood version at chef Tom Brown’s new gaff in Knightsbridge. The addition of fresh pink grapefruit kept it from being too rich.
One Club Row (Shoreditch) - Curried moules frites
Look, they already had us at martinis and burgers, but the team at One Club Row really knocked it out of the park with this dish. Fragrantly curried mussels come with a flagrantly underbilled bowl of ‘frites’ which transpired to be the perfect vehicle for soaking up all that lovely sauce.
Lena (Dublin) - Ossobuco with risotto Milanese
We managed to secure a hard-to-get booking at one of Dublin’s hottest restaurant openings where a long Friday lunch showed us just why the Irish critics were raving about this Portobello neighbourhood gem. A series of stellar Italian dishes included this particularly good ossobuco.
Forbes Street (Dublin) - Tomahawk steak
Popular Irish chef Gareth Mullins is behind this Dublin hotel restaurant, where one of the highlights is a sharing dish for two of a tomahawk steak from Longford butcher John Stone that’s aged in Pearse Lyons whiskey.
Bar 1661 (Dublin) - Round Towers
The name of this Irish bar alludes to the year in which the British outlawed Poitin. They specialise in using Irish spirits and this amazing cocktail featured both a wild botanical Irish gin from Glendalough and Micil Irish Poitín, along with lemon sherbet and celery.
The Kerfield Arms (Camberwell) - Taramsalata with fried pizza dough
With all the good things we ate at The Kerfield Arms it might seem a little odd that it was one of their snacks we’re focusing on. But the joy of working out just how much tarama you could balance on one of these piping hot pieces of fried pizza dough is why we’re still thinking fondly of them over a week later.
Bodean's (Soho) - Potted meats
We really enjoyed the new barbecue options at Bodean's thanks to the menu overhaul by Richard Turner, but it was this most unexpected addition that was the real winner - a truly excellent potted meat and sourdough combo.
Blackthorn (Galway, Ireland) - Fried tallegio, coppa, roasted red pepper
Back to Ireland again, but closer to our Irish home this time, where the local restaurant The Twelve has been reborn as Blackthorn, more like the kind of upscale grill restaurants we see in London. The steak was excellent, but this starter was the real winner.
Bubala (King's Cross) - Spanakopita Borek
There's much to love at the new Bubala, its biggest restaurant yet, like the potato latkes which are as great as ever. But it's this new addition, bringing the dish of the moment, spanakopita, into borek form that's a must-have.
Row on 5 (Mayfair) - Orkney scallop
A visit to Row on 5 showed us just why this restaurant is gunning for (at least) two Michelin stars. There's a load of great things on the menu but this fantastic scallop dish (and what a scallop!) was a particular favourite. Look for a full Test Drive on Thursday for more about this.
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