The Chalk
We have been to this location before, which is just off the Kings’ Road in Chelsea, when it was still called the Butcher's Tap and Grill. But Tom Kerridge, the proprietor decided to go in a slightly different direction. He renamed the pub "The Chalk", with an updated concept. Where the original concept was mostly pub fare with (big) cuts of meat to grill, it is now a more traditional gastropub with more refined dishes, and less of a focus on steaks and similar cuts of meat. Overall, we thought it has shifted a little more upmarket (not surprising given the location), and that perhaps Tom is trying to emulate of the success of The Coach in Marlow, with its one Michelin star.
The restaurant wasn't quite full when we, arrived and were seated in a cosy booth in the downstairs area. We were fairly peckish, so opted for some starters to get going. My wife had the 'nduja and smoked mozzarella sausage roll, which had a good kick to it. I picked the cheese and onion scone, which came with a very generous serving of mustard and herb butter. With our starters we enjoyed a half of the Rebellion IPA — sadly they had run out of their other two cask beers, although that does offer an excuse to pop back another time.
As my main, I chose the rolled shoulder of lamb, with was served with charred onion wedges, ratatouille, and a crispy parcel. The flavours all worked well together. My wife enjoyed the butter roasted ray wing, which came with pickled cockles, diced cucumber, and an anchovy and garlic dressing. As the wines are fairly pricy, instead of a bottle to share, we just had a glass of wine each to match our dishes.
We could have left it there, but felt the need to have some pudding as well. For that, we shared a Chelsea bun sitting in a bath of spiced custard with dried raisins or currants in, in.
It's still a good spot, but we were not in total agreement whether it had improved since it was the Butcher's Tap and Grill. We might give it a go in another year or so.
Market Halls
Market Halls is situated not far from Oxford Circus, on the former location of BHS. It occupies the first floor of the building, and boasts a selection of small, street food pop-up type kitchens, although some of them look fairly permanent. They operate a few sites around London, but the one on Oxford Street is the only one that takes bookings for two (or more) people.
The idea is that you pick a table, and then figure out what you want to eat from all the available vendors. You can order drinks at the bar, or through a QR code at the table. The beer choices were lacking, but there was a reasonable selection of wine and cocktails.
After sitting down, we had a look at the menus, and made a plan, which we then didn't quite follow once we started ordering. As it's not really a restaurant, that also was not important.
We started with a set of MOMO dumplings, from "Himalayan dumplings". They were juicy and filled with chicken. A slightly spicy dressing completed the dish. This pop-up also had a special on, which formed our second starter: crunchy pieces of puffed rice filled with potato, and served with tomatoes, cucumbers, and raw onion. The cucumber and tomato provided a cooling counterpoint to the spice in the rest of the dish.
As my main I enjoyed the Chilli Jam Pork Belly from Krapow!, which was served on rice. The pork was a little crunchy, well seasoned with birdseye chilli, and sprinkled with some salad leaves. My wife ordered the lamb from Salt Shed, another temporary addition to their menu. The slices of perfectly cooked lamb had some sea salt sprinkled over them, and were served with very spicy chillis, pickled radishes, and a slightly garlicky dip.
There are plenty of more pop-up restaurants to try out including a dessert place. If you feel like a good and low-key meal after a hard afternoon (or day!) of shopping, the options at Market Halls will easily satisfy your appetite.
De Ruif
De Ruif (The Hay Rack) is situated at the edge of one of the Netherlands' national parks, de Veluwezoom. It's popular with walkers, but in the evening it is more of a traditional restaurant. They serve mostly French cuisine, but also some local classics.
We visited not with just the two of us, but also with my parents to celebrate a birthday. We selected our dishes from the three course set-menu.
My wife chose a seventies classic, the shrimp cocktail. In this case, it came with brown shrimps instead of the more usual prawns. It was well-dressed with Marie Rose sauce, and came with some lettuce and a lemon to squeeze. For my starter, I picked the "watermelon" carpaccio, although it came with three types of melon (watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew). The chunks were served on top of long strands of flavourful and thinly sliced parma ham.
After our main, we both opted to go with the swordfish. This was served with a red risotto, a dressing, grilled baby tomatoes, and some vegetables. The portion sizes were on the larger side for both starter and main, but we still found some space for pudding.
I selected the Aperol Spritz Sorbet, which turned out to be massive. But it was all the right kinds of sweet and bitter and juicy. My wife chose the Limoncello Tiramisu, served with a strawberry on top. This dessert was creamy, light, and refreshing.
After all these courses, we were properly satisfied. We will likely be back, as there are not too many options in the area for dining out. But perhaps we won't have three courses again.
OPSO
OPSO styles themselves as a modern Greek restaurant. They're based just off Marylebone High Street. We first ate here when they opened, just over a decade ago, and recalled that experience positively, and as it was a lovely warm summer evening, perfect for some Greek food we thought we'd return.
It seems however, that in the last decade, the prices had gone up significantly. Wine starting at £58 is a bit of a joke really… but it's Marylebone, so perhaps the locals don't notice or care? Instead we settled on some beers from Greek breweries that we hadn't tried yet.
We were not overly hungry, and as a result decided on a slightly lighter meal. We started with a duo of souvlaki kebabs, which were served on top of a slightly charred pitta bread. They were dressed with a dollop of yoghurt and red onions. With the kebabs, we also had some tzatziki and slightly spicy flatbreads. The tzatziki was fresh and the flatbreads crispy.
For our mains, we shared the slightly seared tuba, which was dressed with sugar snap peas, tomato, mint, and capers. This combination really worked well, and the tuna was spot on. I always think that tuna is better mostly raw, but seared on the outside To accompany the tuna, we also shared a spanakorizo — spinach, rice, and goat's curd, baked in the oven.
The food was delicious, and the atmosphere lively, but we did think that perhaps some value has been lost along the way.
Artean
San Sebastián, a city in the basqueland region of Northern Spain, is known as a culinary hot spot. It is therefore not short of plenty of pinxtos restaurants, fine dining, and a galaxy of Michelin stars.
Artean is a small restaurant in the Gross area, not far from the beach. It has twelve seats, at the bar only. The bar chairs are comfy, and sitting at the bar creates an intimate atmosphere. The chefs are from Peru, and have worked in Michelin starred places, but the person serving was Danish. Artean does not have a start (yet?).
We were the first customers that evening and got to choose our seats, which we did, near the kitchen towards the end of the bar counter.
They offer a seven-course tasting menu (at €90), but also have an à la carte menu. We picked our meal from the latter. As our starters, we picked a selection of tapas. While waiting for them to be served, a lovely bread and a shot glass of a fresh and flavoursome gazpacho got us in the mood. A lovely crisp white Leirana wine made it to our table too.
Our selection started with dressed oysters, and topped with salmon roe, served in a boat shaped bowl. They were slightly acidic, but the dressing toned it nicely down. Fat and juicy anchovies on toast, with a nice layer of butter in between then followed. And finally a duo of scallop gildas. Each consistent of two scallop halves slightly seared, on a bed of creamed parmigiana reggiano, roasted tomato, and topped with an olive, some anchovies and pine nuts. It was plated up right in front of us.
After the starters we each chose a different main. My wife selected the catch of the day, a moist piece of hake on a pea oil, served with a couple grilled shrimps with a piece of samphire on top, which was delicious. I decided on the grilled octopus with green beans and pine nuts. It was a little sticky from a dressing, and cooked perfectly with a little bounce.
After we finished our meal, we moved to a separate set of stools in front of their window for our dessert. That was all our doing as we had probably been a little slow with dinner. Here we enjoyed a dessert wine each, and a sheep's milk curd, topped with blue cheese, cider ice cream. Yum!
Artean was a perfect meal, incorporating local flavours and ingredients with hints of Peru. And all at a very reasonable price. We would certainly return if we're in town again.
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