Oorja
This new location for Oorja is at the bottom of Marylebone High Street, a little out of the way. We visited during their soft launch, which brought some teething issues. More about that later.
Curiously each diner is provided with a fabric apron to wear, to protect their clothes which was a bit of a novelty.
We had some popadoms when we arrived, and we have an issue with them. There were only three actual popadoms; the rest (majority) were star shaped piped "crisps". These reminded us slightly of an M&S packet of crisps with different shapes — although I'm sure they were made in house. Traditional popadoms from an Indian restaurant are wonderful things, thin and crispy, but although the sauces were great, this box wasn't really as good as that.
The food generally was lovely. My wife ordered the black daal, which she thought was amazingly tasty. The railway chicken curry that I had was also delicious. A particular shout out for the cheese and onion bhajis that we had as our starters — we're not sure that we ever had an onion bhaji with cheese, but it worked well. But as usual, they came in portions of three — most parties are two, which makes sharing them harder.
But onto the teething problems. The circular table at the top of the stairs that we were sat at, was too small for two to dine comfortably. When we arrived there were plenty of other tables for two free, and which remained free during our whole visit. We felt like being squeezed in as a "walk in", rather than for someone who had booked.
Service was attentive but not intrusive. Empty plates etc., were removed swiftly. The pacing of courses was also good; not too, fast or too slow.
Desserts weren't available, so no comments on that. Overall we'd recommend this place, and I hope it does well.
The Ship Tavern
A cosy no-nonsense gastropub, right next to Holborn station; that's how I would describe this place. Which when we visited was decorated for Halloween with pumpkins lining the stairs up to the busy dining room.
The menu has your standard pub fare (Fish & Chips, Steak, Beef and Ale Pie), but also more sophisticated dishes, such as a Venison Loin and a Beef Wellington to share. We chose two of their specials.
My wife had a Salmon Wellington, served on mashed potatoes with some leek. A good wavy crust enveloped the well-cooked salmon. The mash was smooth and buttery, with the leek adding some texture.
I enjoyed the Duck Breast, which turned out to be a duck breast and a confit duck leg. The breast was pink and juicy, and the leg just as it is supposed to be with a crispy skin. This was served with Tenderstem broccoli, some mash, and a few roast potatoes. These roast potatoes were probably the best I've had in a London pub, after never really been happy with any served with a Sunday roast. If I have any criticism of the roasties, it's that they were on the salty side.
When ordering, we asked our waiter what our mains came with. He didn't seem to know this, and advised ordering vegetables with the Salmon Wellington, so we went for a portion of maple-glazed carrots. But whilst the carrots were nice, they were unnecessary as the salmon came with mash and leeks. This meant there was too much food overall, as the portions of everything were very generous.
The food was excellent, and as it is close to the British Museum, it would make for a great place to go after a day out at the museum. Booking ahead is likely required for a Friday or Saturday evening.
Edith
On our holiday, we had a few beers across the street at Le Brassitorium, which we would recommend going to if you happen to be in Nice. Whilst sitting outside in the warm weather, we noticed Edith across the street, and decided that it looked like a good place for dinner. We had not booked, but they had a table available when we showed up — probably because it was on the earlier side for dinner in the South of France.
For her main, my wife chose the "Aioli", which wasn't just garlic mayonnaise. Instead, a well-cooked white fish — just slightly flaky — appeared with char-grilled carrots, fennel, and courgette sections. And of course the garlic mayonnaise. I picked the steak tartare, served with the standard egg yolk. This was served with pan-fried potato cubes and some lettuce. It was well-seasoned, and had little bits of cournichon embedded in the chopped meat.
Still a little peckish, we shared a delicious silky Crème Brûlée to finish. We had a lovely meal, in this no-nonsense restaurant, serving original home cooked meals without fuss and a lovely atmosphere.
Marjorie's
A wine bar tucked around the corner of Carnaby Street. The restaurant is narrow, and although they have a few tables for small groups, many of the tables are larger and are seating multiple parties. It was a bit of a surprise when we got seated downstairs at a large round table, with space for 8 people. When we arrived, 6 other diners (all couples) were enjoying their meals.
Because it is a wine bar, the wines are on the expensive side. We picked a lovely claret for just under £50 to go with our meal.
To start we ordered some bread, and brown butter, and a saucisson with some cournichons, and a slice of the squash tart. The tart looked almost like a slice of pizza, but had nice sweet squash flavoured layers interspersed with cream and cheese, on a slightly crunchy base.
For my main, I picked the Mackerel, with pumpkin, pickles, and herbs. The combination was a little on the sour side for me, but the fish was well cooked and prepared. My wife chose the Bavette steak which was served with an egg york emulsion — a similar idea to the egg yolk that often sits atop a steak tartare. It was well seasoned, but slightly under for the medium that she'd ordered.
Curiously, we did have to ask for the bread and saucisson a few times, and these only arrived after our mains were served. This was disappointing, but overall the meal, and the ambience were both lovely. There was definitely more legroom than at the Barbary.
The Barbary
A hip place in Covent Garden. We were a little early, and while waiting had a good overview of the place: A big kitchen area in the middle, with a coal fire, and around that a horseshoe of bar stools.
We started our meal with a naan, made right in front of us in a tandoori from a bundle of though. It was fluffy and crispy, and the cod's roe with spring onions was an excellent dip.
After this followed the starters, a trio of croquettes, with a dip. It's a weird number for a sharing-style restaurant catering for mostly couples.
For our mains, we shared a mushroom kebab, coffee rubbed chicken, and a poached and grilled trout. The Mushroom kebab was underwhelming, and the portion size was small. The trout was still very moist, and the crisply skin added flavour; some pickled meaty tomatoes and onion slices accompanied it. Our favourite was the coffee rub chicken. Moist, juicy, and with a proper splash of heat from the topping and tasty pickled courgette.
We enjoyed the atmosphere was good, even though it was fairly noisy. But it wasn't so bad so we could not near each other. The flames from the grill made it on the warmer side — we were seated less than 3 metres from it. The extraction was excellent and hence it wasn't smokey — not even when one of the chefs refilled the fuel.
The downside of the Barbary were the cramped seating arrangements with fixed backless bar stools by the counter. Long legs made it necessary to man-spread, which isn't great for the unknown customers sitting next to you having to do the same. The restaurant is also not accessible, but this is made clear on their website when you use their booking tool. There is a terrace across/around the corner which would be better for seating, but it was too cold for that to be pleasant.
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