Malmaison Hotel & Brasserie, Farringdon - & one of the best burgers in London

Donald Russell 35 day aged entrecote

During a week when snowfall in London brought flights to a painful standstill, our city weekend break at the Malmaison Hotel in Farringdon was a little piece of utterly relaxing bliss. The fact that it houses the largely undiscovered gem that is the Malmaison Brasserie was just another bonus along the way.

I love staying in hotels. I love the fact you can mess the bed up and someone makes it for you while you're off having breakfast. I love the big fluffy towels that I don't have to wash. I love any shower that isn't our crappy shower at home. Our night at Malmaison was just a brief change, but it felt like a rejuvenating holiday - without having to spend the night sleeping at Heathrow under space blankets wondering when we'd get on the next flight out of there.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

The view from our room at Malmaison, overlooking Charterhouse Square

Best of all, the Malmaison Brasserie is just downstairs. The only thing I recalled about the brasserie before going there was that its burger made Young & Foodish's list of top 10 burgers in London (at number 4). Of course we had to have it.

The brasserie's location right by the Smithfield meat market is a clue to head chef, John Woodward's, passion for quality, local sourcing. All beef is sourced from Donald Russell who selects only grass fed, naturally reared beef, which is matured for a minimum of 28 days in Aberdeenshire. Cheeses are sourced from La Cave a Fromage and oysters are from Maldon Oysters. The list goes on.

Salmon & fried baby squid

Boudin noir with crispy poached egg

My seared, marinated salmon is perfectly cooked and moist, with ringlets of tender, fried baby squid and roasted hazelnuts (£7.25). TPG has the rich boudin noir with silky champ and crispy poached egg (£6.95). Both dishes are immensely enjoyable and the quality is clearly there.

The 250 gram entrecote is dry aged on the bone - tender, pink and sweet, it even came with some rich bone marrow on the side, and a smashing bearnaise (£20.95).

The excellent Mal burger

Which brings me to the excellent Mal burger - a 250 gram patty of ground beef with Gruyere, bacon, pickle, tomato and onion on a toasted sesame bun. It comes with homemade fries for £13.95. Lovely, pink and juicy on the inside, crunchy and well caramalised on the outside; it is indeed one of London's best burgers. Terrific stuff.

Creme brulee with a madeleine

Baked white chocolate cheesecake

To finish, a creamy vanilla creme brulee with a spiced madeleine combined 2 of my favourite sweets - both elements were quite lovely on their own, although putting them together doesn't really work as a combination. A very decent baked white chocolate cheese cake was sweet, smooth and dense. (Both desserts are £5.95).

The decor lacks some character. Despite that they've gone for dark tones and subdued lighting to create a slinky, stylish look, the brasserie has not quite shrugged off that feeling of being in the basement of a boutique hotel. But it's ok. And service is of a friendliness and quality to match the food. The private butcher's block room, with its exposed brickwork and long wooden table, would (I imagine) be a great nook for a large dinner party.

The brasserie also offers a set price menu - any 2 courses from the a la carte menu for £21 or any 3 such dishes for £25 (only very few dishes carrying a supplement).

  

From there, it was just a short toddle upstairs to our spacious room complete with fluffy carpet, chaise longue for reclining with a good book, dressing table (I totally want one), flat screen TV, wifi and a lovely, deep bath. The powerful shower with its big shower head is also great, and the toiletries at Malmaison deserve a special mention - they smell divine. Even better that the packaging requests that you take them home, so we happily obliged. There's also a decent little gym downstairs, which I tried for about 5 minutes and TPG for longer.

Any criticisms? There are no fluffy dressing gowns. This is a not a small thing for me - I love a big, fluffy dressing gown. If I had one, I'd be wearing it right now. And the mini bar is not amazing, but I never use it anyway. These quibbles are all I can think of - I loved the hotel, and the brasserie, and the location is terrific, with the Smithfield meat market, St Johns, Vinoteca and North Road Restaurant all within a few minutes walk. The short break has inspired me to do the whole city break thing more often - a change can be as good as a holiday, without all the travel hassles.

If you feel like some of the same, I recommend the Malmaison hotel, but I also recommend trying the brasserie for the steak and burger in particular, regardless of whether you're stumbling back to a bed upstairs.

Malmaison, 18-21 Charterhouse Square, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6AH (Tel: 020 7012 3700)

Greedy Diva was a guest of Malmaison, however room rates generally range from £205-£250 per night, with suites from £295-£475.

Vinoteca, Farringdon - revisited

Vinoteca is one of my favourite restaurants - it made my top 10 list for 2010 and I have given it a brief review previously. So when the snow fell like a heavy blanket across London recently, Vinoteca was the place we looked to for a long lunch over some heart warming food and wines.

It's as much a wine bar as a restaurant, I suppose - although that suggestion may not do the fantastic food justice. The walls are decorated with vintage posters and shelves laden with wine bottles, the crowd is a mix of young and old, and it's about as far from a pretentious scene as you can get while quaffing in style. With its lively, casual atmosphere, it remains one of my favourite places for a great meal at reasonable prices that allow you to indulge all the more. If you haven't been, go.

Here's some more reasons why, from our most recent session there in December:

Seared scallops with broad bean puree and black pudding

Chunky ham hock terrine with fabulous home made piccalilli & crispy toast

Amazing, fleshy Dover sole with Moroccan cous cous
- from memory, a bargain at around £17

Crepe with wild, earthy mushrooms and oozey goats cheese

Shared sticky toffee pudding with warm caramel sauce - one to fight over

This meal just made me want to go back again. I'm looking forward to giving their new gaff, Vinoteca in Seymour Place, Marylebone a try.

Vinoteca, 7 St John Street, Smithfield/Farringdon, London EC1M 4AA (Tel: 020 7253 8786)

The Modern Pantry, Farringdon - Anna Hansen with Frances Atkins of The Yorke Arms (London Restaurant Festival, 10-10-10)

Seared saddle of venison with a polpettino,
pandan, coco beans, beetroot and red wine sauce

A top London chef working with one of the UK's best out of towners, serving Sunday lunch right here on my doorstep? Don't mind if I do...

As part of London Restaurant Festival celebrations, on 10th October 2010 some of London's top chefs teamed up in their restaurants with the a selection of the best chefs from around the UK - to create Amex Express' 10-10-10 event.

By way of example, Raymond Blanc collaborated with Bruno Loubet to create a special menu and work side by side at Bistro Bruno Loubet, and same goes for Tom Kerridge of the Hand and Flowers with Anthony Demetre at Arbutus, and Alain Roux of the Waterside Inn with Claude Bosi at Hibiscus. Fabulous idea.

I was happy to be invited to lunch at The Modern Pantry in Farringdon, where head chef Anna Hansen would be working side by side with Frances Atkins of The Yorke Arms. To set the scene, some CVs...

Anna Hansen, a New Zealander, was one of the founders of The Providores before setting up The Modern Pantry. She has worked in the kitchens of both Fergus Henderson (of St John Restaurant) and Australia's beloved Stephanie Alexander. The Modern Pantry has 2 AA rosettes and was listed with Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide 2009.

The Antipodes meets the north with the addition of Frances Atkins, one of only 6 female Michelin Star chefs in the UK. Her Yorkshire restaurant, The Yorke Arms, has held a Michelin star since 2003, along with several other accolades.

Yes, I was looking forward to my lunch.

It's a gorgeous sunny day (although please don't give me that "Indian summer" pallaver - 2 sunny but merely mild days does not a summer make) and the light streams in to the modern, airy upstairs dining room. Our amuse bouche is a shot glass containing a shaving of truffle nestled atop a gorgeous, warm truffled turnip veloute. A tiny dollop of cold vanilla ice-cream has sunk to the bottom beneath a thin, crisp slice of warm pancetta. A really interesting, unexpected and enjoyable combination.

Then, a starter sized cassava, squash and pickled walnut "kofta". It's like a really good pasty, but with firm crunch and exotic spice. It works well with a robust prune carraway relish and some Belgian endive for added bite. Overall, it's "nice".

For mains, we both forgo the "rosemary gnocchi, grains and seeds with lime and ginger marinated plum tomatoes" for what sounds like a winner - the seared saddle of venison with a polpettino, pandan, coco beans, beetroot and red wine sauce. Unfortunately, it's cold, and we notice another table send theirs back, presumably for this reason (it later returns and they eat it). The venison is tender and well cooked but lacks the full flavour we expect - the sweet, red wine sauce goes some way to saving it in that respect. The serving is noticeably small. The polpettino is well seasoned - but, for both dishes, the lack of heat does this pretty course no favours. The coco beans add more exotica in the description than they do on the palate.

Ironically, we both comment that the main dish is the only thing on the menu that jumps out at us as something we would normally order, but it's the biggest disappointment of the day.

Surprisingly (for a savoury tooth like me), the dessert is the biggest hit. A small quince and parkin crumble with a dollop of clotted cream is a lovely balance of tart but sweet, with crunchy crumble giving way to warm and soft autumnal fruit. It is accompanied by a creamy, pistachio brulee with a blackberry and liquorice sauce.

The Modern Pantry has a great wine list, and after a glass each of Billiecart Brut/Extra Brut champagne (£9.50/£9.95 each), we order an absolutely terrific bottle of Sonoma Zinfandel, Sonoma County 2008, Seghesio (£43). It's velvety and smooth with a touch of spice - it matches perfectly with the venison. Love, love love. Why are you still reading this and not drinking one?

We finish with coffees, which are included with bread (there's a lovely bread basket) and bottled water in the £50 ticket price. (Although, when I ask about the price earlier, a waitress goes away to find out, and returns to tell us tickets are £15 - that's quite a difference.) Wine and service are extra.

To summise, this was a nice, enjoyable lunch - consistent with my previous visits to The Modern Pantry (in the downstairs cafe), where everything has been nice, but nothing has really blown me away. But £50 (plus the extras) worth of nice? Clearly a premium was being charged at The Modern Pantry for the privilege of having 2 chefs collaborate for the occasion. Unless you are a die hard follower of one of them, at least in respect of my lunch, I think there's better value to be had in the set lunch menus offered by many of London's Michelin star (and other top) restaurants at £20, £25 and £30 per head. But maybe you're happy to pay extra for something different - a unique collaboration and local access to an acclaimed out of town chef.

The 10-10-10 lunch is a brilliant concept and one that the participating chefs can take as an opportunity to really dazzle their guests and have them hankering to return to both restaurants for more.

The Modern Pantry, 47 - 48 St John's Square, London, EC1V 4JJ (Tel: 020 7553 9210)

Greedy Diva was a guest of Amex.

Bistrot Bruno Loubet: Farringdon, London

I'm on the bus to Farringdon, salivating rather enthusiastically over Marina O'Loughlin's description of stickily rich hare royale with onion raviolo, pumpkin and dried mandarin puree at Bistrot Bruno Loubert.

Unsurprisingly, having held the bus driver's foot to the metal, we arrive early at Bistrot Bruno, like 2 eager puppies. It buys us some time to peruse the menu in the window - tongues to pavement.

And there's no hare today.

The lip quivers.

But the sun is shining in Farringdon, and nowhere does it gleam brighter than in the breezy modern bistro we've come to inspect. With white walls and big windows, BBL is casual but aglow, humming with a contented chatter.

Loubet has returned from an 8 year sojourn in Australia (Brisbane) to once again have the London food scene in a lather. He previously flaunted his skills at such places as London's L'Odeon and the Inn on the Park where he earned a Michelin star. He was named the UK's Young Chef of the Year (1985 Good Food Guide) and was appointed  head chef of Raymond Blanc's  2 Michelin Star restaurant, Le Manoir, all before heading to Oz and coming back again to tackle his new creative venture. Blimey.

Loubet's interesting, creative bistro food adds a modern twist to French classics. It has both feet on the ground, but adds something surprising and creative, often involving exotic Asian or North African ingredients.

I start with the Mauricette snails and meatballs, which circle seductively around a light, creamy mushroom mousse (£8). The sauce is delectably sweet and savoury, but the heavenly mousse steals the show.

We're dining with our lucky charms, T & M (it seems they never have a bad lunch, at least not with us). TPG and Lucky M have chosen the Sunday roast (beef this week), which comes with a plentiful starter - slabs of hearty terrine, bread and cornichons - and a floating island and Pernod custard dessert, all for £22. The starter is meaty, tasty and generous - we easily could have shared one between all of us. Lucky M is working his magic already.

Lucky T starts lightly with a side salad, which was basic but did the job - she's only warming up. (Believe me, wait until the chocolates arrive...)

Having braced myself for the hare, my chosen substitute was going to have to be a rip snorter. Lucky T and I both opted for the confit lamb shoulder. The lamb was pressed into a round little bombshell - fatty, juicy and tender - with white bean mash, sweet red pepper, preserved lemon and green harissa (£16). I wouldn't say there were fireworks, but this was an absolutely lovely combination of flavours, adding some exotic zing to an otherwise hard core meaty dish.

The menfolk enjoyed their lashings of perfectly cooked slices of roast beef with vegetables and bearnaise. Again, servings were generous.

Lucky T and I shared an apple and quince mille feuille with an orange blossom sabayon (£6). Beautifully presented, this was at once a decadent and light finish to the meal. Eternal thanks to Lucky T for allocating to me the larger share.

The menfolk tried to look manly, beating their chests as they nibbled daintily at the their floating island of cloudy meringue in its creamy custard base. In the name of research, I helped TPG crack his way through the toffee coating (which he wasn't fussed about, but I liked) to serve myself several spoonfuls. The meringue was dense rather than delicate, and TPG thought it excellent. The custard was lovely and creamy with a surprisingly strong hit of Pernod - I don't know how that works, but it really does.

Coffees came with a scrumptious little chocolate ganache each, with hints of salty caramel undertones. In true Peanut Gallery form, TPG likened the flavour to a sophisticated version of the Cadbury Chocolate Eclair.

Service was friendly and mostly good, although dessert wines would have come after dessert was devoured had we not issued a prompt (and even then we had to hold back our spoons awhile). Then, having specifically requested coffee to arrive after we'd finished the dessert wine, it came early - twice. We let it go the second time.

Niggles aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Bistrot Bruno Loubet. It's been heaped with praise since it opened some weeks ago, but it's a worthy recipient. I can see it going from strength to strength as it continues to provide clever bistro delights to us lucky Londoners.

A 3 course meal for 2 with wine, dessert wine and service costs around £90. And you probably won't need dinner...

Bistrot Bruno Loubet, The Zetter Hotel, 86-88 Clerkenwell Road, Farringdon (Ph: 020 7324 4455)

St John, Smithfield - Pigfest 2010: London

If it's part of the animal, it won't feel out of place on the menu at St John.

St John is known as a London institution for true Brit "nose to tail" eating. For those, like me, who like to get their snouts in the trough, it represents simple, trimmed down principles in both style and substance.

Set in a former smokehouse near the Smithfield meat market, St John is not typical among its Michelin Star star contemporaries. In plain, white walled, basic surrounds, the intrepid diner is drawn to focus on quality samples of weird and wonderful meat cuts and combinations - like pheasant and trotter pie, or snail, sausage and chickpea. The philosophy seems to be that if you're going to kill the beast, it's only fair to make thorough use of it. St John is not for everyone, but proprietor Fergus Henderson was heralded as revolutionary for bringing the St John concept to life in its early days (at least) after opening in 1994, despite having no formal training as a chef (he trained as an architect).

I've been to St John several times, both to the dining room and to scoff the gorgeous, freshly baked madeleines over a cuppa downstairs at the bar (a soothing way to break up the bus trip home from East London).

The food is anything between well executed to absolutely delicious (and this from a girl who would rather eat her own toenails than offal). Service is, unfortunately, all too consistently frosty.

So it was with this history in mind that I eagerly attended the Ladies' Pigfest 2010 with 15 other fine femme foodies and bloggers last week. Our object: To eat pig. Lots of pig.

We had pre-ordered the whole roast suckling pig (requiring large group bookings) with sides of boiled potatoes and greens. Our selected starters were St John's signature roasted bone marrow with flat leaf parsley and spring onion salad, and whole crab with mayonnaise. Desserts were to be the British-to-the-bootstraps Eccles cakes with Lancashire cheese and Spotted Dick with custard. Righty ho old, chum - so how'd it go?

Weee-eeelll. Despite pre-ordering everything well in advance, we waited for 50 minutes for our entrees to arrive. Woman cannot live on bread alone. So by this time, the red wine teeth stains were already starting to take a serious grip. However, the dishes - once they arrived - were excellent.

The crab contained a plentiful bounty of sweet, decadent meat. It was the winning entree, hands down.

With greasy hands, we also partook in squatty pillars of bone, containing blobs of juicy marrow to be glooped carefully onto 1/2 a bit of toast (there not being enough to go around the table). More toast was eventually forthcoming on request, although it was strange to have to ask - surely one might bank on at least 1 piece each? Noted. However, the combination of gelatinous marrow with crispy salad and crunchy toast was as good as ever (I've indulged in them before). Anthony Bourdain rates it as his ultimate last supper. I'd probably rather a good steak to see me out, but you get my drift.

Then, we each licked our lips as we waited for the main event. Bring on the piggy. Alas, we waited long enough for my haircut to go out of fashion before our pig was brought forth, in all its shiny, glistening glory. In all the anticipation, there was a relieved flurry to take photos (a full roasted pig is quite an impressive sight), but as I remained a-guzzling and a-chatting in my seat, I was not aware that our waiter had apparently been quite rude about said flurry. I can forgive delays in a busy kitchen to some extent, but bad attitude (either way) between waiter and diner is not on.

Anyhoo, the pig was utterly delicious. Vegetarians, please look away now. In primordial style, Petunia was swiftly decapitated and its head was passed around on a plate for cheeks, ears, snout etc to be devoured. This was no ladies' cupcake tea. The meat was tender, succulent, flavoursome - and there was lashings of it. (In fact, there have been comments that this might have been quite an old piglet given its size - the piglet should have been fed on its mother's milk until it is slaughtered between the age of 2-6 weeks - although I think British piglets are bigger than Spanish ones.) Suffice to say, this pig did not die in vain - it was thoroughly devoured and admirably drooled over. I also loved the greens and ladled several helpings onto my plate.

Unfortunately, due to the constant waiting game, several of my fellow divas had to dash for last trains (it was almost 11pm) so could not stick around for dessert. So I have not had the heart to tell them about the crispy, currant filled Eccles cakes, combined beautifully with a huge slab of mild Lancashire cheese. Nor about the glorious, huge Spotted Dick puds swimming in gorgeous warm custard. I had 1 serve of each (and sneaked a second slab of the Spotted Dick). Then, I hopped into my beloved madeleines. Separate stomach and all that...

The largely French wine list always provides, and it certainly did again at Pigfest 2010. Great food, wine, and fabulous company made for a wonderful evening. However, the slow and unnecessarily crusty service - and not for the first time - left a bad taste for many of my fellow guests.

There was no explanation offered at the time for our wait, despite that everything was ordered in advance. However, the manager has since contacted some of my accomplices to offer an apology, an explanation, and a very kind invitation to make amends over a drink and some desserts. Well handled.

Thanks to the lovely Meemalee (Mimi) for organising - you can see her own version of events here.

St John might have the food down pat, but it really needs to lift in respect of its service. Other than that, it's offally good. (Sorry.)

26 St John Street, Smithfield, EC1M 4AY