July was a month in which we spent a fair amount of time out of the country. So here's our rundown of the best things we ate and drank this month both in London and beyond.
Mountain (Soho) - Fresh stracciatella cheese with raw prawns
It's the hottest restaurant in London right now, and likely to remain so for much of the rest of the year if the 180k views our reel got are anything to go by. Tomos Parry's opening menu is extremely strong, but it's this deceptively simple dish that really won us over. The bread and stracciatella cheese are both made on-site and topped off with the freshest prawns. We're planning to go back and have more of these as soon as we can. Assuming we can get a table...
Studio Gauthier - Pithivier D’Eté
This is a dish that was originally created for Gauthier Soho to appeal to those who were used to that restaurant's previously meatier menu. Designed to showcase that you can create something incredibly rich and filling on a vegan menu, this mushroom pithivier is an excellent dish, whether your diet is plant-based or not. Expect this to evolve with the seasons too.
Counter 71 - Carrot and chicken taco
From an inventive multi-course tasting menu at this new opening in Shoreditch one of the many snacks we're still thinking about was this one-bite carrot 'taco' stuffed with chicken thigh and caesar dressing. Look out for our full Test Drive next week.
Pavyllon - Curry man’ouché with powdered herb salad, black garlic, pistachio and ginger gel
Yannick Alleno has arrived in London with a rich French menu in the Four Seasons on Park Lane. The restaurant has a notably pricey menu but this dish coming in at the relatively lower end of expense (£22) was the winner for us. Crisp, piping hot flatbread which hits you with a glorious scent of curried seasoning as it's placed in front of you.
Little Pizza Hicce - Grilled peppers, tomato, mozzarella fior di latte, goat's cheese, shallot, honey, walnut, rosemary
The second Hicce to arrive in Islington is their pizza restaurant that's right across the road from their pub, Hicce Hart. We love a good pizza but sometimes we're looking for something new from the toppings - which Little Pizza Hicce really delivers. All the pizzas we had were excellent, but this newer addition to the menu really shows how some of their vegetarian offerings are the best - that combo of honey, walnut and goat's cheese worked a treat.
Elix - Kokoretsi via Thailand
This traditional Greek dish is usually made with a mix of offal - think sweetbreads, hearts, liver, lungs - before being covered with intestines and then grilled. For a one-off dinner at Elix in Greece (you can read our travel piece soon) former Kiln head chef Nick Molyviatis took that as his starting point and then combined that with the inspiration of Thai laab to come up with this amazing creation.
Genesis Taverna - Saganaki
Sitting by the harbour in Gaios, the capital of Paxos, watching the yachts sail in while we devoured plate after plate of Greek classics at the Genesis taverna it was always going to be hard to pick out a favourite. But, honestly, how do you beat a plate of fried cheese drizzled with honey in the sunshine?
Christmas cheese - Paxton & Whitfield
We really love Christmas in July, a mad marketing wheeze where shops and some of the big supermarkets preview what will be on the shelves in the festive season. Lately, the event isn't quite what it was, so we're extremely pleased that the Paxton and Whitfield Christmas preview is as strong as ever. From cheese advent calendars (delivered in three batches) to this range of brand-new cheeses, their festive offering is always on point. Extra marks are awarded for their Corinium cheese and a phenomenal Sparkenhoe Red Leicester.
Dovetale - Sticky buns
We're visiting Tom Sellers' second restaurant of 2023 this week (follow us on Instagram for more from that) but we did get a little preview in the shape of some breakfast pastries. These are VERY good and show that it might be well worth popping in for breakfast at Dovetale if you're in the area (the burrata omelette also sounds great).
Le Tetsut - half a dozen petit oysters
A short trip to France meant an almost restaurant-free week in La Teste de Buche. However, the area is particularly known for its oysters and you'll find a number of terraces by the small port serving up tapas and glasses of wine. They all looked fabulous, each offering a selection of small, medium and large oysters. Tempting as it was to have an oyster crawl, we eventually settled into Le Tetsut for a great French mid-afternoon snack.
Harvey Nichols - Pina Colada
Sometimes it's hard to transport yourself to the Caribbean from London by the power of imagination alone. But up on the Fifth Floor Terrace at Harvey Nichols in the sunshine with one of these in hand, it suddenly becomes a whole lot easier. The current cocktail list has been taken over by the folks at Casa BACARDI in Puerto Rico (yes, where the rum comes from) and this Pina Colada was one of the best we've had in a really long time.
Burger & Lobster - The OG Lobster roll
It's always nice going back to visit an old favourite and the Burger & Lobster in Mayfair's an easy place to drop by when you're getting a hankering for lobster and brioche. This has always been one of London's better lobster rolls and it's nice to see they're still doing a good job of them.
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