Demartino
Styling themselves as a New York neighbourhood Italian restaurant, Demartino is situated on Great Portland Street. When we visited it was busy, with elderly couples, a bunch of friends, and a birthday party. Very much a low-key neighbourhood restaurant. Unfortunately, that meant we had a small table right in the middle of the restaurant, which meant we were on something of a busy thoroughfare with serving staff and fellow diners moving around close to us.
For our starters we picked courgette fries and arancini, or rather, one big arancino. The courgette fries were nicely seasoned, and were served in a cone — just like Belgian fries. The big arancino was served in a spicy sauce, that had a very nice strong tomato flavour.
As her main, my wife selected a ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach, served in a lovely butter and sage sauce. I had the wild mushroom risotto, with the rice just a little al dente. A decent sprinkling of Parmesan added the right level of cheesiness.
We had a lovely bottle of red wine to go with our excellent meal. The service at Demartino was good, and the atmosphere lively.
The only downside to our visit was the position of the table we were seated at, so if we returned we'd try to be seated elsewhere (almost anywhere else).
Het Schilderij
Het Schilderij (The Painting) is a gastropub in the small village of Dieren, where I grew up. The pub has been around for as long as I can remember, and I've had many a merry evening there in my youth. But it has evolved, and now has the feel of an English Gastropub, with a decent (although hardly changing) menu, with seasonal additions. They also have a great selection of interesting beers. It is a spot we frequently eat in as well, when we visit my parents.
In that context, we found ourselves here on a cold and rainy autumn evening. As a starter we shared an "Oerbrood", a rustic loaf, with butter, (very garlicky) butter, and some tapenade which worked well with a glass of Hertog Jan's Grand Prestige beer.
In autumn, it is quite common to see game on restaurant menus, and Het Schilderij is no exception. My wife and I both selected the venison steak, served with a thick wine jus. The venison was still moist and a little pink in the middle, with a nice grill-seared outside — adding a bit of colour and flavour. My parents both had wild boar loin which looked similarly delicious.
Accompaniments are shared with the table, and the chips, pan fried potatoes, and brussels sprouts with lardons (a seasonal addition) worked very well with our choices. Although the sprouts aren't everyone's favourite, I thought they were cooked just right.
We had a lovely evening, with enjoyable food and drink in a good atmosphere. We'll certainly be back.
Butcher's Tap and Grill
For our tenth anniversary we made a trip to Marlow, a small town on the banks of the river Thames. The town features a suite of gastronomic pleasures. The two Michelin starred restaurant and Michelin starred pubs are both owned and operated by chef Tom Kerridge, which made for an amazing gastronomic weekend getaway. The getaway package also included a voucher for his Butcher's Tap and Grill, which is both a butcher and… a grill. We got a nice haul of barbecue meat from there!
Now, a few months later, we had something else to celebrate, and in that time, a new Butcher's Tap and Grill has opened in Chelsea, in London.
Although they do plenty of simpler (and cheaper dishes), we selected the Beef Wellington for two. We were informed in advance that it would take some time for it to be prepared. This gave us an excellent opportunity to enjoy a cocktail. I had an Aged Beef Fat Old Fashioned, and my wife a Butcher's Bloody Mary. Both excellently made.
The Beef Wellington was served a while later, and was served with green beans and some mashed potato. The latter could have been a bit more generous. There was also a charred onion, and fried onions on a crispy salad leaf. The Wellington itself was splendid. Nicely pink in the middle, surrounded by a moist mushroom duxelles, and covered with a perfectly crisp pastry — no soggy bottom! The dish was finished with a red wine sauce.
With dinner, we enjoyed a bottle of Bedoba, a Georgian red wine. We later found out it's the same wine we had at the Hand and Flowers in Marlow!
We were still a bit peckish and finished our meal with a pudding. My wife had a sticky toffee pudding, and I enjoyed an apple crumble.
The Butcher's Tap and Grill is a lovely pub, with great food, although it is the usual pub fare (the Sunday roast looked great). They also serve great burgers and speciality cuts. A lot of choice. It isn't a cheap place, but we thought quite worth the price, and are already thinking of a reason to return!
St. JOHN
We went to St. JOHN on a chilly evening. We were sat upstairs directly in front of the door, and with the aircon also turned on it was verging on cold. I arrived a bit early and noticed people dining, whilst wearing their outdoor coats.
St. John, like most restaurants in London these days, operates on a “sharing concept” which is fine, but doesn't work for all foods, like soup for example.
We shared the venison rissole, which came with an extremely punchy aioli — a bit heavy on the raw garlic to be honest — which was nice. I then had a delicious artichoke soup and my husband enjoyed the smoked mackerel, with its bones in place, as starters. The smoked mackerel was served with some lemon herbed potatoes, which complemented the flavour of the fish well.
My main, the middle white pork, was underwhelming, with something of the school dinner about it. The pork was very dry and served on a cold plate with carrots that were well on the overcooked side. For some reason the entire dish was also drowned in what appeared to be gravy and oil, which didn't improve or moisten the dry pork, it just made it tepid and greasy. My husband's hake dish was better, served with leeks of just the right firmness, and a not-so-garlicky mayonnaise.
We had a bottle of the house white wine which worked well with all the dishes.
The mains took forever to turn up. The serving staff apologised for this, and offered us a bag of their madeleines as recompense, which we took away. Those fresh warm madeleines were absolutely delicious, and by far the best thing served. We'd go back for those, and the soup… But not for the mains.
Café Deco
We were supposed to visit Café Deco together last November, but then I ended up in A&E for the evening, with my wife going on her own. She liked it well enough then to make a repeat visit for the two of us.
I arrived a little before her, and I was sat in a cosy and small room in the back, with room for barely 6 patrons. Café Deco does modern British cuisine, with some forays into French and Indian styles.
For her starter, my wife chose the charcuterie (from the snack section), and I picked the Mulligatawny (from the starter section). They slightly forgot that they were supposed to come together, but that was sorted out soon enough. The soup was thick with lentils and spices, and had a good kick to it. The charcuterie was flavourful too.
For her main, my wife picked a cicoria, carrot, and cannellini bean stew. The flavours were deep, the carrots a little crunchy, and the beans nice and buttery. I selected the pork chop as my main. I don't really often eat pork, but on this chilly autumn evening it felt the right choice for the moment. It was served with a pumpkin and radicchio gratin. The chop was nicely seasoned, and the gratin of roasted vegetables were a nice and slightly sweet accompaniment.
With our meal we also enjoyed a lovely bottle of a Spanish Granache, and created little sparkles on the tongue.
And then it was dessert time, for which we both had a scoop of the mint choc chip ice cream, and a dessert wine to round out the evening.
Café Deco is on the up market side, and not particularly cheap. But it was a very nice meal indeed.
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