Out door seating – Page 7 – No Expert …but I know what I like

Almeida – not just for chocoholics

In celebration of chocolate week, Almeida has joined forces with chocolatier Paul A Young to create a unique three course “chocolate” menu. Each dish being combined with a complementary chocolate. So basically instead of wine matching, it’s chocolate matching!.

The whole concept of a chocolate menu seemed a bit of a gimmick, so I was pleasantly surprised just how serious this food was.

The meal began well with a very nice goats cheese appetizer/canapé. Then I had a stunning foie gras dish (described as pan fried foie gras, chocolate and orange – 64% Dominican Republic chocolate with a balance of sweetness and a delicate nutty, smoky taste.) I thought this dish was very subtle with great flavour combinations.

For my next course I went with the pork (braised suckling pig, creamed savoy – with Paul A Young’s Ras el hanout spiced chocolate), again it was a dish that was beautifully complimented by the almost savory chocolate sauce. We even asked the waiter for the recipe and to his credit he went out of his way to get it for us.

One of my chocoholic companions decided to forgo the main course and have two desserts instead. No problem, they just provided him with a “jumbo” sized dessert as the main course. For the rest of us, there was a choice between two desserts. A chocolate souffle that was not so well received and a stunning dessert called Chocolate 3 ways, which included some lovely fudge.

Normal Size Dessert - Chocolate 3 Ways — Normal Size Dessert – Chocolate 3 ways

On the wine front to match the chocolate theme, we went for a rather nice Portuguese red.

P141009_20.48 — 2006 Duas Quintas Branco, Ram os Pinto, Douro, Portugal

The only low mark here related to the wine service where the waitress kept overfilling glasses, which meant that the wine was not evenly distributed and forced us to get a second bottle to make up the short fall. (We would have gone for a second bottle anyway, but would have preferred to do it in our own time).

We then finished the meal with coffee and petits fours.

The layout is very well designed with a distinct bar area and a dinning area that consists almost entirely of round tables. I love round tables in a restaurant, they work so well for both groups of two (both dinners can face into the room) and groups of 6 (much more sociable as you can have cross table conversations with everyone). The acoustics were also very good, we could not hear anything from the neighbouring tables.

The bar is worth a visit on it’s own, we mainly indulged in yummy Chocolate Martinis, but there are some other cocktails on the menu that are worth trying. One of the champagne cocktails, “The Morgan” (Morgan’s Spiced rum, gomme syrup, cranberry juice and champagne) was very nice too.

P141009_20.05 — Chocolate Martini at the Almeida

The restaurant has 2 AA Rosettes, which it certainly merits. It is also off course an ideal pre-theatre venue for the Almeida Theatre. I certainly plan to return, even without Chocolate week.

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Bar Lobo – slow and moody

Went to Bar Lobo (part of the Grupo Tragaluz) for drinks. It is a pleasant enough venue (although the drains do smell a bit when sitting outside). The service is the main problem here, staff did not seem very friendly and the service was slow and inconsistent, i.e., later arrivals getting their food and drink before we got our rather simple drinks order.

We returned again a few evenings later for Tapas (to give it a second chance!). It was quite lively but not packed, and we got a table more or less straight away, but after that it went down hill, it took ages to get our order taken. Bar Lobo could take a few lessons from Inopia on what it means to provide good service.

Marks out of 10

Food 4

Service 4

Ambience 5

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Tram Tram – pulling out all the stops!

For reliability and good value for money, Tram Tram has always been a real winner. It pulled out all the stops on our most recent visit however. The weather was so good, rather that sit in the small room at the front of the restaurant we were taken through the restaurant, past the attractive private dining room into the courtyard. It was just lovely, the food was also among one of the highlights of our trip.

So glad we returned this time as it reinforced my belief that Tram Tram is somewhere very special.

Marks out of 10

Food 7.8

Service 7

Ambience 8

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Del’Aziz – expanding!

For a bit of everything Del’Aziz the Mediterranean Delicatessen and Brasserie is great, they have their deli counters (of course) and a really good selection of cakes (portion control is a problem though, sometimes bigger is not better!). I have only been to the ones in Bankside and Fulham.

UPDATE : September 2010 – I passed by their new outpost in Bermondsey Square yesterday during the annual Bermondsey Street Festival and it looked good.

IMGP2407 — Del’Aziz in Bermondsey Square

tn_CIMG3211 — Del Aziz – Long Lane entrance

UPDATE : May 2011 – Finally tried the Bermondsey Square branch, it has outdoor seating at the front and in the Square, which is a great little sun trap. Identical formula and quality level as the other branches of Del’Aziz.

Marks out of 10

Food 6

Service 6

Ambience 6

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The Table – by design!

For a late breakfast or brunch away from the crowds, I would recommend The Table.

It is perhaps not somewhere you would find in passing, as it is located a couple of streets behind Tate Modern, housed within an architects’ head quarters. (I found it while visiting the offices as part of Open House London). It is a casual venue with shared tables and a small outside seating area.

There is also usually a small selection of Cakes

The Table – upping its game!

The Table just gets better and better. There was a real buzz during my visit today, see video :-

Buzz at The Table

It was busy when I arrived, but one of the waiters immediately spotted me and found me a space. The service and the food based on this visit was actually better than I remember from earlier visits. My sweetcorn fritters (which the waiter advised me would take at least 10 minutes to make) were just perfect. They were served with two lovely runny poached eggs as well – an addition that had not been part of the dish last time I ordered it. The staff were really on the ball, a glass of tap water was provided within about a minute off asking for it, as was the bill.

The area (Southwark Street – near the Blue Fin Building) is much more lively now too, lots of restaurants and bars with outdoor seating.

UPDATE – The Table’s menu and chef has changed. The interior is slightly different as they have removed the area that used to be used to display cakes, so no longer somewhere to pop in for just coffee and cake. It’s main focus is still breakfast and brunch type dishes, it is also now possible to make reservations.

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Tapas Brindisa – Me gusta!

Just been to Tapas Brindisa in Borough Market again. It’s always reliable.

You can not book, so it is all about timing. We arrived at 7.00 p.m. to be told that it would be a twenty minute wait (what ever they say always wait – have a drink in the rather cramped bar area), we actually got our table in less that 5 minutes.

The menu is tasty and varied, and service is brisk.

The charcuterie is always a good option and they do a nice goats cheese in honey.

The seats are not very comfortable (I guess that is good business practice to ensure a quick turn over), the tables are so close together that you inevitably end up having conversations with the people at the next table, mainly about the food, it’s just that sort of place.

UPDATE – September 2011. Still as good as ever, we sat outside on a warm evening and enjoyed a few old favorites and some tapas dishes I had not had here before. The Ham Croquettes were especially good but the fish plate would have been better with more fish and less apple garnish.

Marks out of 10

Food 7

Service 7

Ambience 7

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