Khao Bird
The restaurant is situated on a busy Soho street, with sadly still some traffic around. It has more of a street-foodie-cafe vibe than a restaurant vibe. Which makes perfect sense in this neighbourhood.
As many contemporary restaurants now do, the dishes come "when they are ready". We ordered as our starters, some shan meat balls and a watermelon salad. The meatballs were made with chicken, and wrapped in caul fat. They were cola glazed and barbecued with crispy garlic and ginger. The flavours were very much new. The same can be said for the watermelon salad, which was pungent and spicy with a fish sauce caramel, with Thai basil.
For our mains, my wife chose the mutton fries: chips topped with a braised Burmese mutton curry, served with some sour cream and crispy leaves. It looked more like a starter than a main course, but it was oh so tasty. I picked a more traditional main in the form of the Hung-Ley pork curry. This was a delicious and tender curry with fish sauce and pineapple flavours. Some jasmine rice made sure that I could enjoy all the tasty curry juices too.
A bottle of Viognier complemented our meal well.
The flavours of the dishes at Khao Bird, although spicy, were novel and exciting. We easily could have selected a lot of more things from the menu. However, we were wise not to follow the suggestion of picking: two small, one medium, and two larger dishes. That would have been too much (we find this is often the case). The size of our selection was spot on, which means there is plenty to chose from on a return visit. It's also reasonably priced.
The Shed
We had originally booked to dine at Gourmet Sushi before seeing a film at The Gate cinema in Notting Hill Gate. But when we got there, it turned out to be closed for renovations, and it was clear no sushi was going to be made there that evening! After a quick look on The Fork, we found The Shed nearby and made a really last minute booking. So late, that the restaurant hadn't received it yet when we got there. Luckily, they had a spot for two, albeit for a shorter time than normal. That suited us fine, as we were going to see a film afterwards anyway.
We didn't have an enormous amount of time, and hence we started with something small. Instead of a full starter, we enjoyed an amuse-bouche first. For me that was a delightful goats cheese tartlet, and for my wife a mushroom marmite éclair. Marmite isn't a flavour I agree with, but she loves it.
For our mains, we both chose the Sussex lamb. The lamb was moist and succulent, and probably one of the best cooked ones I've had so far. It came with a beetroot salad, which was earthy and complimented the dish well.
With this, we shared a side order of English asparagus, which were served with a saffron emulsion. Some almond dust added some texture.
We still had some time, and space for pudding. As dessert, we enjoyed sharing the Rum Baba. It was presented in a boa-bun like contraption with a creaming rum sauce as filling. Some slightly sour raw strawberries complemented the sweetness of the dish.
Alongside our meal, we had a bottle of a full flavoured white wine which stood up well to the lamb.
The Shed was comforting and cosy, with great service. We were a little short on time, so couldn't try something for a full three-course meal. As it was so nice, I think we will be back when we have more time, and can book a little further away in time!
Mr Francatelli
We booked at the last minute at Mr Francatelli as I had been busy with the count at the local council elections. I was tired, and I was in no mood to cook myself. My wife however, knew a restaurant near her work that she had been eyeing up for a while, so we went along
My wife picked the Girasoli Mare, filled with crab and prawn, and served with a cherry tomato sauce. I selected the Pappardelle Porcini e Salsiccia, pasta with porcini mushrooms and Italian sausage. The pasta was well-made, and a little al-dente. I usually like it more al-dente than my wife, but we both enjoyed it.
With our meal, we shared a bottle of a Welsh rosé, which complemented it well.
We were in the mood for pudding, for which we enjoyed a Tiramisu to share which came served in a mini mocha pot.
Mr Francatelli served good Italian food, and not fussy. It was slightly on the pricier side, but that is not really a surprise in Westminster.
Et House
A couple of months ago, I asked my wife to see if she could book some different cuisines for our Friday nights out. This request resulted in the visit to Mriya Neo Bistro, and a reservation at Et House, a Turkish restaurant close to Swiss Cottage. When we arrived at the restaurant it was pretty quiet, but we were welcomed in, picking a table up towards the back of the restaurant.
For our starters, we shared some Babaganush, which was served with a flat bread, and Mantar, sautéed mushrooms with butter and garlic, covered in melted cheese.
For her main, my wife chose the Sarma Lamb Beyti — minced with spices and garlic, and served in a lava bread with some yoghurt on the side. A spicy tomato-y sauce completed the dish. I had the Mixed Shish — marinated chicken and lamb cubes, served with a salad, rice, and bulgur wheat.
With our meal I enjoyed a bottle of Efes Draft, and my wife a Turkish red wine.
The dishes were all nicely spiced, not too strong, but with a good flavour. The meal was nothing very special, but enjoyable and decently priced. We did order too much though, as the portions were generous.
If you're near Swiss Cottage and fancy a low-key meal, Et House will do just fine.
Mriya Neo Bistro
Out of the way, near the Brompton Cemetery, behind an unassuming shop window, a cosy little restaurant is hiding. It is named Mriya, which means dream in Ukrainian. The small restaurant has a short menu of Ukrainian dishes, in Ukrainian and English.
When we arrived, a fiery horseradish infused shot of vodka, to go with a canapé with Salo (a slice of salt-cured pork subcutaneous fat), which we'd pre-booked was waiting for us. An excellent start to the meal.
For once, we decided on a wine first, and chose a Ukrainian white wine from the Odesa region. It was nice and crisp, and worked fine with the rest of our dishes.
As our starters we shared the Matthias forshmak, chopped herring served with boiled potatoes, onions, and eggs; and a cheburek, a deed-fried turnover filled with (in our case) a four cheese blend. We enjoyed the forshmak with some bread and whipped butter.
After our starters, my wife picked as her main the salted cheese varenyky (dumplings) with wild garlic pesto. The filling was flavourful, with the wild-garlic pesto adding a bit of a kick. I decided on the Kyiv fried chicken, with mashed potato. The chicken was filled with a delightful garlic butter, and had a nice crisp coating. The mash was very smooth, and was served with two sauces.
After all of this, we also decided on a sour cherry varenyky to share as desert. And to round our meal off, we enjoyed that with a shot of a sour-cherry infused vodka. Budmo!
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