This month featured a trip to Paris, some excellent cocktails across the Channel and back here in London, theatrical sushi and more.
Luna (Liverpool Street) - Caviar and worm salt taco
A genuinely thrilling (and fun) evening with Hot Dinners readers at new omakase restaurant Luna in the City threw up all manner of high points including this fantastic sweet potato taco shell filled to the brim with Italian caviar. It was then finished with gusano salt before being devoured in a single bite.
Burger & Lobster (Kensington) - Lobster Benedict
A new branch of the restaurant group has just opened on Kensington High Street and it’s the first in London to serve up the newly-launched brunch menu. Options include a smash burger with fried egg and waffles, but we particularly loved this lobster iteration of a classic brunch dish.
Chelsea Flower Show (Chelsea) - José Pizarro’s paella
There was a lot to like about the Spring Garden hospitality section at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show and certainly the four-course lunch from Skye Gyngell was fabulous. But sitting in a wicker chair in a tent in the middle of a meadow, having just been served a bowl of paella from a huge paella pan by José himself, we hit a real high point.
Josephine (Marylebone) - Pate en croute
Reviews for Claude Bosi’s new central London restaurant have been mixed, but the one thing everyone can agree on is the quality of the pates and terrines by charcuterie master George Jephson. We lucked out with the pate en croute as the terrine du jour on the set menu.
Cendrillon (Paris) - The World Famous Los Passagios Pig Sando
There's much to love about this restaurant in Belleville, which feels a little like an East London restaurant in Paris. This is one of their signature dishes, born of a previous residency at Cendrillon. Inside the buns, you'll find slow-smoked pork belly, jalapeño & cheddar sauce, spicy cucumber relish, and crispy chicharrones. You can even top it with caviar if you're feeling fancy.
Danico (Paris) - Domingo al Chifa
There is a Danico (and Daroco) in London too, but we fell in love with the original on our recent trip to Paris. We had a parade of extremely clever cocktails (at the moment based on South America) and this cocktail (on the left in the photo above) is a twist on a negroni, which features elements of a Peking Duck, including Peking duck spice mix and even hoisin sauce. It's mad but worked very, very well.
Mr Porter (Mayfair) - Roast beef carpaccio
Expensive steaks are at the heart of the menu at this new subterranean steakhouse at the Hilton on Park Lane. And while they’re good, we actually preferred this gorgeous starter of paper-thin carpaccio.
Donnelly’s - (Galway, Ireland) - Chicken, bacon, wild garlic and white wine sauce pie
When we head home to Galway, this is our local pub, so we were particularly pleased to discover that it had a brand new menu, with an extremely good pie on it. That bacon and spring onion champ might not be the most structurally sound base for the pie, but even though things got messy after this, it's one of the better pie and mash combos we've had in a while.
Kitchen Table (Fitzrovia) - Konik’s Tail tasting
This table full of martinis, in this case woodruff-infused Konik's Tail with dry vermouth and mint, may explain why our tasting of the vodka paired with Kitchen Table snacks was such a great evening. On the table is also a hand-dived scallop with caviar, smoked cream and walnut - truly two-Michelin-starred bar snacks. If you ever get a chance to try a tasting hosted by Konik's Tail founder Pleurat Shabani, jump at the chance, because he's a really good storyteller.
Duchy (Shoreditch) - House diot sausage
We really enjoyed our dinner at Duchy - not least on account of the excellent playlist and strong cocktails - but this dish of homemade sausage using a very nutmeggy mix of minced pork from Farm Tom’s pigs was a particular hit. Ours came with wild garlic aligot, which is now, officially, the best way to use wild garlic.
Town (Covent Garden) - Wildfarmed ribeye steak with green sauce and Town house gravy
An early visit to chef Stevie Parle’s new restaurant in Covent Garden showcased plenty of interesting plant-forward dishes but this steak was a standout. The restaurant is the first in the UK to be serving up beef from Wildfarmed cows in Oxfordshire.
The Park (Bayswater) - Martinis & candyfloss
A trip to The Park was ostensibly to celebrate it being able to open as a standalone bar (i.e. you can pop in without having to eat there), which will prove extremely handy for those in the Bayswater area. But it also coincided with one of our birthdays, and we have to say that a mix of martinis (particularly the expertly created ones at The Park) and candyfloss is one we can heartily recommend.
Bob Bob Ricard (Soho) - Virgin novitiate cocktail
Don’t be fooled by the name, this is no low or no alcohol offering - it’s named after the central character of Liesl, a nun in training played by Mia Threapleton in Wes Anderson’s new film The Phoenician Scheme. It’s a champagne and brandy concoction currently being served up for the next month as part of a pop-up they’ve created in the underground bar in Soho, which they’ve dressed up as the Marseille Bob’s in the movie.
Bloodsports - (Covent Garden) - Pina Colada
An impromptu visit to Bloodsports (the sports bar offshoot of MEATliquor) revealed the delights of their frozen slushies. But while the frozen margs are great, this dayglo coloured version of a pina colada was the winner. Just don't have this after a couple of their Turbo Lageritas as we did...
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