Jose, Bermondsey - London restaurants

Normally, I don't like to eat standing up. However, I will put on my best ballerina flats and make an exception for Jose. As they say, tired of tapas bars, tired of life.

This is pretty much as close as it gets to your own little Madrid tapas bar in London.

Bite into a plate full of bright green, salty Padron peppers with a side of nutty Iberico ham from an acorn fed pig, perfectly carved, wafer thin, to melt on the tongue, and wash it down with a its perfect partner - chaser of marzanilla sherry. Simple bliss.

Jose Pizarro has already established himself on London's Spanish restaurant scene through his previous work at the Brindisa restaurants. Breaking off on his own with Jose in Bermondsey, this popular little gaffe is worthy of all the praise with which its being lavished.

Perch up against the bar or a barrel, and work your way through the list of sherries and wines, while sampling all the lovely bits and pieces from the menu -  salty razor clams with the heady goodness of paprika laden chorizo, sea bass with blood orange, fatty blood sausage with broad beans, fresh, zingy gazpacho, or a big hearty chunk of spot on tortilla. All this at reasonable prices (with the usual small plates disclaimer - you can spend as much or as little as you want).

It's busy and crowded - and if you can handle that, its heaps of fun. Big love. You can't reserve - just turn up.

Jose, 104 Bermondsey Street, Bermondsey, London, SE1 3 UB

Rioja Tapas Fantasticas 2011, Southwark

I'm not really one for camping or festivals. I like a good solid roof over my head, and I like to be able to stand up and switch on the lights within my accommodation. The thought of trudging off to the shrubbery with a shovel send shudders down my spine. I do have wellies, but I bought them from Marc Jacobs so I'm not sure they count (not bad for £12 and where else can you find wellies in a last minute panic in Soho?). As for feasting off paper plates and cups, that's all well and good so long as the sun is shining and I'm not paying so much that its costing me an opportunity to eat wagyu beef laced with gold leaf and truffle at The Fat Duck*.

So I'm not often seen at food festivals. However, the sun was shining, and I still haven't booked that trip to Madrid I've been hankering for. So, it was that TPG and I ventured to the foot of Tower Bridge on Saturday for the FREE event, Rioja Tapas Fantasticas.

While taking in the views over the Thames and the Tower of London, we tasted white, rose and red riojas from a large number of wine makers (such as Marques de la Concordia, Marques del Atrio and Vina Salceda), while feasting on thick tortilla rolls (from restaurant Barcelona), a hearty rabbit paella with spinach and asparagus (from Number 22 Restaurant and Casa Catering) and creamy Iberico hams (carved to thin, melt in the mouth perfection by Tozino - a company with experience carving for the likes of Ferran Adria and the Spanish Royal Family).

Taste from the tapas stalls of some of London's Spanish restaurants, such as Barrica, Camino and Paellaria (serving huge pans of inky arroz negra) or try Picota Cheeries which are exclusively grown in the Spain's Jerte Valley and only available from mid June to end of July each year. Fellow blogger and the woman behind Catalan Cooking classes, Rachel McCormack, is also there with her Rachel's Bunuelos stand.

Entry is FREE, and you only pay £3 to purchase a tasting glass and 4 tokens to exchange each for a small (ok, teensy) sample of 4 wines of your choice. (Call me what you will, but the samples could be bigger.) After that, you pay £1 per sample, or you can buy by the glass at good prices - I had a lovely (and big glass of) spicy, vanilla-y Reserva for £3.50. Our food was mostly priced between £3.50 - £6. There are also wine workshops, cooking demonstrations (eg from Jose Pizarro) and Spanish bands.

Tapas Fantastica runs over one weekend in summer each year (look out for it in 2012) and is a low key, hassle free way to have a taste of Spain in London. And it won't cost you the tasting menu at Le Gavroche.

Thanks to Phipps PR for the press pass.

*  Ok, so I'm not sure The Fat Duck does this dish, but you get my drift.

Zucca, Bermondsey

The only problem with Zucca is that it's not on my street. This is pure, unfussy Italian food at its best. And it comes in relaxed but brightly buzzy surrounds with pleasant service - and at prices so good, you could make it a once a weeker.

The room itself is one of those happy places that immediately makes you smile - clean lines, white tables, big sunny windows, open kitchen, bright warm splashes of pumpkin orange. It's River Cafe, without the river. And I said that on the night before I knew about chef Sam Harris' former connection with River Cafe. We dined in the evening, but I walked past again the next day and the whole room was bathing gloriously in sunshine - a lovely spot for lunch.

The food just broadens the whopping big cheeser that's already on your dial. Meatballs with sweet, hearty tomato sauce are a favorite (I think we ordered a second serve), and TPG and I also loved the fresh carpaccio of seabass which is liberally dressed in a grassy olive oil. Even the bruschetta is a memorable mouthful of caramel-like roasted onion and taleggio.

Since we all want everything on the menu, we also share among our starters a toothsome bowl of thin taglierini with spring herbs and ricotta.

For mains, D enjoys the casarecce pasta with pork and fennel ragu, and TPG and R share the grilled lamb chops for 2 (wonderously pink and juicy morsels) with potato and anchovy.

It must be Easter, as I seem to have a dose of bunny at this time every year - in this case, the slow cooked, ultra moist rabbit with trevisano and to die for creamy white polenta. It's love.

The only complaint is that there's a hell of a lot of olive oil on nearly every plate - but it's greeny, good, olivey olive oil at it's best.

Desserts are marvellous - TPG hops in to a seductively wobbly vanilla pannacotta (beautifully silky and creamy), but even he has to agree that my warm rhurbarb and almond cake is the real dark horse - perfect if you like a more restrained dessert.

Prices are incredibly reasonable for the quality and gorgeous surrounds - antipasti - £3.95 - £4.50, pasta (only 2 to choose from) at £7 or £9 and mains all hover around the £14.50 mark. Including 2 bottles of a lovely Barbera and service, I think we got away for less than £40 per head.

Zucca and Trullo (reviewed earlier) are exactly what I want from my Italian restaurants. These are two restaurants in London that I'm almost bursting to get back to.

Zucca, 184 Bermondsey Street, Bermondsey (near London Bridge), SE1 3TQ, Tel: 020 7378 6809

The Fish Place, Battersea

Seared Devon scallops with pumpkin puree

The Fish Place opened about a month before I visited and there was only 1 other table occupied during our prime time Saturday night visit. Clearly the local Battersea residents have not yet caught on that there is extraordinary cooking going on in their own backyard.

The head chef previously worked at Michelin starred Roussillon. In every single plate, we found his food not only expertly cooked, but an absolute joy to eat. The freshness of the fish and quality of the ingredients were abundantly apparent from the outset - all seafood is sourced from British waters (there's Dorset crab and Cornish lobster) and is flown in fresh from local fishermen to the kitchen.

To start, an amuse bouche of prawn with potato in a lovely rich chicken stock. It sets the scene nicely for my Devon scallops, nicely seared and cooked to just right all the way through. They are nestled into a lovely, sweet pumpkin puree with deep fried sage and a subtle lemon beurre blanc. It's not a pairing I would normally rush towards, but the pumpkin adds a nice autumnal depth to the dish, which works nicely during this bitterly cold London week.

Dorset crab ravioli

TPG's Dorset crab ravioli are plump parcels of sweet crab pocketted in perfectly cooked pasta atop buttered Savoy cabbage with a shellfish and tarragon sauce. It's rich and rustic, and a dish that has you closing your eyes and dreaming that you're right by the coastline.

Wild sea bass

My wild sea bass is moist and juicy and again - by now it's no surprise - there's perfect execution in the pan frying of the fish. It comes with sauteed potatoes which are just right in firmness, baby spinach, black prawns and a creamy fish sauce. It battles with the crab ravioli as dish of the night.

Boullabaisse

TPG might disagree - he's a major fan of his excellent classic Marsellaise Boullabaisse, with steamed new potato and braised baby leeks. There's at least 3 large pieces of fish in there and to say it's a hearty feast is an understatement. The flavours are bold, fresh and satisfying.

After quite an intoxicating gin and tonic sorbet as a palate cleanser, I move on to the fabulous hot apple and cinnamon souffle. It's a billowing treasure of light, fluffy goodness. The cinnamon is slightly too powerful for me, but TPG loves it. As good as it is, I think I prefer TPG's caramelised pear cheesecake. The caramelised pear is a wonderful match for the creamy, biscuity cheesecake.

Apple & cinnamon souffle

Caramelised pear cheesecake

There are non-fish items on the menu, like Welsh lamb and Kent venison, but this is a place to eat good fish and lots of it.

The wine list deserves a mention - it's very reasonably priced, and there are around 20 wines by the glass for between £3.50-£7.50. When the Stonier Chardonnay (listed for £33) is not available, the sommelier does a great job of guiding us through some matching wines for each of our courses by the glass. We can both be control freaks with our wine, but thoroughly enjoy each of his choices.

There are some downsides - although none of them apply to the food. First, the location - it's a cold night so the streets are quite deserted around this part of Butler's Wharf next to the London Helipad, between a new hotel and residential complex. It's a deserted position and I'm not sure what the potential is for passing pedestrian traffic along the Thames.

Secondly, the ambience. The restaurant is still new and the restaurant was close to empty - which is a travesty for food and wine of this quality. Also, I'm not sold on the stark decor - lime green and cold, granite fittings. A few crisp, white tablecloths would go a long way to making things more comforting.

The set lunch menu is £15, while dinner menus are set at 2 courses for £37.50, 3 courses for £45 and 6 courses for £55. These are steep prices for a restaurant with limited custom, but the cooking is so accomplished (and it's so rare to find fresh fish and execution done so expertly in London) that we both agree it's well worth the price tag assuming you enjoy each other's company enough to get past the ambience void.

If enough of you take me up on my recommendation to go and eat there, you might even find yourself creating the atmosphere that this place deserves. I look forward to returning with a bunch of friends, who I know will appreciate the quality food and wine list, and will create the noise required to lift the roof as the kitchen deserves.

The Fish Place,Vicentia Court, Butler's Wharf, Bridges Court Road, Battersea, SW11 3GY (Tel: 020 7095 0410)

Greedy Diva was a guest of The Fish Place.

Friday Food Club, Blackheath

Allow me to cut to the chase: the Friday Food Club is brilliant.

This terrific little supper club is run by Lee and Fiona Behan from their rather funky apartment in Blackheath. Formerly the GPO film studios and an art hall, the building has now been converted into apartments with high ceilings, huge ornate windows and (in the case of Lee and Fiona's apartment, at least) ritzy furnishings. This is a supper club with all the trimmings.

Lee Behan is a classically trained chef, while Fiona is the gorgeous, bubbly, front of house personality. They opened their doors in January 2010 and since then, it seems, have mastered the art of utter professionalism, while keeping things relaxed and friendly.

They often host special events - recently, Mark Hix took over the kitchen and this week they're working with Dhruv Baker (winner of Masterchef 2010). The Peanut Gallery and I recently attended for an evening with Prosecco Riccardo, and a menu designed to match.

A very seasonal corn veloute seduces us into the evening like the glorious pink sunset we watch through the windows. Served in small, white espresso cups, it is sweet, mellow and simply sumptuous. It is paired with Riccardo's lovely Superiore D.O.C.G. Spumante Extra Dry which is not as dry as the name suggests. Its apple and pear characteristics work well with the corn.

A starter of pork, pistachio and apricot terrine is served with red onion marmalade. It's terrific. And also smart - for the first 2 courses, most of the prep work can be done before the guests arrive, so everything is timely and relaxed, while losing nothing to quality and taste. The D.O.C. Treviso Spumante Brut is a fabulous accomplice, balancing dried fruit and floral hints.

Cornish pollack is pan fried to perfection and served atop a creamed Prosecco sauce of smoked bacon, leaks and clams. This dish really shows Lee's skills. The pollack is transformed into a thing of luxurious splendour, basking lavishly in its luscious, creamy sauce.

This dish had an unusual partner - a still Prosecco, Riccardo Prosecco D.O.C. Treviso Vino Tranquillo (for "tranquil"). Made with 100% Prosecco grapes, this wine had all the apple and pear flavours of Prosecco but without the fizz. While the wine was popular with other guests, it seems I'm a bubbles girl to the end. I like the lift that the fizz gives the flavour in a Prosecco and felt it fell a bit flat without it. However, the wine matched well with the pollack and so perhaps is more of a food wine for me.

If anything tops the main, it is a pretty late summer berry prosecco jelly balancing elegantly on white chocolate set cream - a divine match of flavours, so light and delicate, this was an accomplished dessert of which any Michelin starred restaurant would be proud. It matches wonderfully with the Riccardo Cartizze Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G. Spumante Dry - very dry and delicate.

We were even given a home baked muffin as a parting gift to munch on for breakfast the next day. No, I did not wash it down with Prosecco (but I thought about it).

Douglas of Intoxicating Prose and Riccardo Tomadin from the winery did a sterling job of educating and entertaining us about the wines throughout the evening. Riccardo Prosecco is the business of the Fornasier family, which has been growing grapes since the end of the 1800s. "Prosecco" is no longer a label that can be used by any wine made with Prosecco grapes - as a protected designation of origin, the grapes of a Prosecco wine must come from the north eastern Veneto region of Italy and meet defined standards of quality and production methods. The Conegliano Valdobbiadene region was recently promoted to D.O.C.G. status, which means the wines are subjected to the most stringent quality and production standards for Italian wines.

The Friday Food Club is normally BYO and I understand they will advise guests on the most appropriate wines to match their menu of the day. Tickets normally cost in the range of £26.50-£38.50, although this event was subsided by Prosecco Riccardo and so lucky guests experienced the joy for a bargainous £18.

Ultimately, as a supper club, it's hard to fault. The only draw back is the last train leaves from Blackheath station at around 11.20pm, just as you get the sense that the party is about to warm up. So think about booking a taxi, sit back, meet some new people and enjoy.

Friday Food Club, Blackheath (a 5 minute stroll from the station), London, SE3

Greedy Diva was a guest of Prosecco Riccardo. Thanks to Riccardo Tomadin for the invitation.

Draft House Tower Bridge, Bermondsey

While I’m on a porky theme, pull up a pew and let me tell you about the pork belly at the new Draft House on Tower Bridge Road.

The existing Draft House pubs (on Battersea Bridge Road and Northcote Road) are famed - around South London at least - for a housing a great selection of beers from ‘round here and yonder.

Owner, Charlie McVeigh (co-owner of Le Café Anglais), explained that each Draft House pub has a different range, so there are beers at the Tower Bridge outlet which you won’t track down at the others (or possibly anywhere else for that matter without a serious sniffer dog). There are 25 draft beers available at this branch – I believe there are 20 beers on bright, shiny, silver taps and dozens by the bottle. The word on the street is that the Draft House Tower Bridge will be the first pub in the UK to serve “Stiegl Paraclesus Zwickl” for instance – I don’t know what it is either, but you get the idea: this is a place to go for rarities and will delight serious beer enthusiasts. But it also seems there has been a deliberate upping of the ante on the nosh you might expect to receive at Tower Bridge.

Our party was there for a blogger event during the soft opening period last week. After kicking things off with a giant sized bottle of Italian Amacord Gradisca, the oddity of the Kermit green seating arrangements almost started to make sense. The décor is something along the lines of retro diner cross old school public house - with a beautiful dark wooden bar.

We were treated to a selection of canapés, which were mostly very good. Of particular note, was some moreish smoked ham hock on toast, a pre-mixed steak tartare thingamie, and a gorgeously velvety chicken and duck liver pate. Other bits, like a prawn and sesame toast and a smoked salmon and crème fraiche number, didn’t leave the same lasting impression, although all were perfectly fighting fit for pairing up with some top notch beers. Snacks, pots and toasts at the Draft House generally range from £4.75 - £5.75 per serving. 


With these, we guzzled the fruity Estrella Inedit by Ferran Adria, which was a little odd (of course it was) – as its flashy website explains, it is flavoured with coriander, orange peel and liquorice - but enjoyable nonetheless.

But most remarkable was a main course comprising some gorgeously tender Lincolnshire pork belly. Crisp crackling gave way to hunks of satisfyingly juicy, gloriously piggy meat. Alongside sat a hearty dollop of black pudding hash and apple sauce (£12.75). This was a pure, unadulterated joy to eat.  This was matched for us with my favourite beer of the evening, a Sierra Nevada 30^th anniversary beer – for me a good balance of easy drinking but quite potent (weighing in at 9.2%) and a bit malty.

Before dessert, cheese. A great oozing brie captured my heart, followed closely by a Stichelton and a cheddar – all served with oatcakes and chutney. (The artisan cheese platter is normally £7.75 although presumably for a smaller one than we shared between our large party). These were paired with a completely full on Double Bastard ale which will blow your socks off (it’s a 10% alcohol heavyweight) – and perhaps requires a bigger cheddar to match it.

I thoroughly enjoyed my wobbly vanilla panna cotta with berries (which unfortunately doesn’t appear on the current online menu). It matched well with a cherry beer to finish off the evening.

I have already recommended the Draft House to my local friends as one to look out for, not only for some serious beer spotting but also for some solid pub fare. I do the same for you.

The Draft House, 206-208 Tower Bridge Road, Tower Bridge, London SE1 2UP

Greedy Diva was a freeloading guest of the Draft House Tower Bridge, attending with other bloggers.

Trinity: Clapham Common, London

Having heard great things about Trinity, I'm surprised it's taken me so long to grace its tables. But then friend Ben, quite the Trinity regular (and trusted eating accomplice, having married the woman who arranged another excellent dinner at La Petite Maison), made a booking for 6 of us one night this week, reserving the £20 prix fix menu (for 3 courses). The time had come.

The ragout of smoked haddock, orzo pasta and peas served in a deep bowl was sumptuous, and TPG's summery chilled pea and mint soup was almost as good.

My salad of beef rump with bone marrow beignet, sweet celeriac puree, white onion fondant "and meat juices" was as fresh, pleasing and colourful to the eye as it was to the palate. (The mug shots by Blackberry do the dish no justice). Those who have gripes about food served on black plates might quibble, but would be satisfactorily muted at first bite.

The slow cooked belly of middle white pork with hot potato soup, apple and watercress was enjoyed with equal enthusiasm by my fellow diners. Only poor TPG, with his rather bland fillet of Loch Duart salmon, was left gaping jealously at the surrounding dishes. Even the dainty, zingy ragout of broad beans and lemon puree didn't save him. I flung him the odd sliver of beef to put him out of his misery.

The cox apple tarte fine with liquorice ice cream was another delight in simplicity, even if presentation was a little odd. Our affable waiter happily offered to swap the liquorice ice cream to the orange and poppyseed ice cream for those interested - probably a good move since the apple and liquorice sound like they won't match well, and they don't. However, each element was individually lovely.

It's a happy circumstance that cheeses are also an option instead of dessert as part of the prix fixe menu (although, sadly, you have to choose 1 of the 3 cheeses on offer).

At £20 for 3 courses, the prix fixe option is most certainly a bargain (although - as usual - we ended up spending double once wine and service was factored in). If you want the prix fixe deal, you must reserve it in advance (Mon-Thurs only). Apart from a bit of a wait for menus and waters at the start, service was excellent - helpful, friendly and relaxed. The decor is nothing earth shattering but fairly light and airy - even more so on a warm summer's evening when the windows were thrown open to the outside world.

Various other menu options are also available. A la carte prices range between £8-£12 for entrees and £18-£24 for mains (or £30 for the lobster dish). These prices are certainly reasonable for food and service of this quality.

An absolute must for local Clapham Commoners, and well worth a trip for the rest of us.


Trinity, 4 The Polygon, Clapham, London, SW4 0JG (Tel: 020 7622 1199)

 

Chapters All Day Dining: Meat Binge in Blackheath

I learned many things that happy night in Blackheath. 

I learned that when one speaks of the Josper charcoal grill oven, one should be aware that Josper is actually pronounced "Hosper" (it's Spanish). How embarrassing. I've been raving on about the "J"osper all this time like I've practically got one tucked away at home, convinced that my friends were admiring my innate foodie knowledge when all along they've been secretly pitying my ignorant ways. Damn it, Greedy.

I also learned that it's possible to devour more steak than you ever thought humanly possible and still want more. And more. And then lick your lips, tuck in your napkin, and go in for more again.

Head Chef of Chapters All Day Dining, Trevor Tobin, knows how to grill a steak. Chapters All Day Dining was awarded a Bib Gourmade by the Michelin man and 3 AA rosettes within 4 months of the restaurant opening (its predecessor was the acclaimed Chapter 2 from the same team). Trevor grilled us up a steak or 2 (ahem) at a bloggers' dinner I attended recently, along with The Wine Sleuth, Eat Like A Girl, The London Foodie, London Eater and organised by Intoxicating Prose. 

This was no average dining experience. This was a night of serious, hard core steak porn. And it just kept getting better.

We started with a Cumbrian Blank Angus fillet steak dry aged for 18-19 days, sourced from W.G Butchers in Smithfields. Beautifully grilled in the Josper to medium rare, the fillet steak is the least fatty cut. So this steak was less richly flavoured than those to come, but gorgeously tender. 

The Aussie grain fed rib eye followed, aged for 40 days, and grilled slightly more thoroughly than the fillet to really let the fatty marbling in this baby do its magic. The crust had caramelised superbly in the Josper, and had the subtle sweetness associated with grain fed cattle. The Josper oven, still a rarity in your average London steak house, is known to give an excellent crust while retaining the lovely juicy flavours.  I was quite the fan of the rib eye from Oz, and it wasn't just the matching French Malbec doing the talking.

The English hanger steak (or onglet or skirt, depending on where you come from) was served rare, as best done for this cut to avoid toughness. It has quite an offal-like flavour due to its proximity to the internal organs of the animal - I don't even like offal, but this was delicious and gamey, if slightly chewier than other cuts. It had a slightly salty flavour associated with the grass fed cattle. Once referred to as the "butcher's cut", the onglet seems to be making a fashionable come back of late, although can probably still be seen as one of the better value full flavour steaks around.

But, lo and behold, the grand finale was still to come - a comparison of premium UK and USDA steaks on the bone - porterhouse, t-bone, rib eye and sirloins - to be eaten comparing UK vs USA steaks on a like for like basis. Hold me down.

Cooking steak on the bone is said to be more flavourful - the adage goes that the closer to the bone, the sweeter the meat. Since we were in company, I stopped short of curling up under the table to gnaw the bone just this once. 

The porterhouse and t-bone cuts saddle up the bone with a fillet on one side (which is larger on the porterhouse, and is the more tender part) and a sirloin on the other. The sirloin is a bit chewier than the rib eye, but less fatty. It strikes a good balance for the dieting gourmand (an oxymoron, surely?). All of these showed quality pieces of meat cooked expertly.

Generally, the prime USDA has a luscious, rich creamy flavour. The Scotch beef is cleaner. I'm a USDA girl all the way. (But I did like that Aussie rib eye).

The starters are also worth a mention.

We sampled a tasty range: Salad of warm Kentish asparagus, poached egg and Hollandaise sauce; Risotto of wild garlic and creme fraiche; Salad of chicory, pear, walnuts and blue cheese; Josper baked mackerel, spiced puy lentils and aubergine with apple puree; Baked scallops and chorizo, sweet chilli dressing and baby herb salad; Terrine of potted ham hock and black pudding, piccalilli and grilled sour dough; Serrano ham, rocket and goats cheese salad and grilled sour dough.

Never let it be said I don't know how to eat.

A good steak restaurant is hard to find. Patron, Andrew MacLeish did a grand tour of some of New York's best (such as Balthazar and Peter Luger) before bringing a sprinkle of the Big Apple magic back to London. Chapters' steaks were up there with my favourites, Goodman (Trevor and the team helped advise them when setting them up) and Hawksmoor - and although it may be less central, it's decent value. Starters generally range between £4.50 - £6.50 (£9.95 for the scallops) and the premium steaks on the bone are £4.50 per 100 grams (compared to £6/100g at Hawksmoor for the prime ribeye and porterhouse and £6.25/100g at Goodman). Crucially, the chips and burger are still to be tried...

Walk up to the zinc top bar, and you'll see the setting is sleek and simple. There's exposed brickwork on the walls, olive green banquettes, high ceilings and modern fittings. It's all fairly fresh and relaxed. But this is all by the by really - it's those charcoal grilled juicy steaks that will draw you in and have you drooling.

Chapters All Day Dining, 43-45 Montpelier Vale, Blackheath, London, SE3 OTJ (Tel: 020 8333 2666)

* I attended this event as a guest of Chapters All Day Dining.