Hans' Bar & Grill
Hans' Bar and Grill sits just of Sloane Square in Chelsea. It is attached to the 11 Cadogan Gardens hotel, but has a separate entrance on a pedestrianised part of Pavilion Road.
We sat in the upstairs part in the middle of a spacious room. After umming and ahhing about which dishes to pick, and whether to have any from the set menu, we decided on sharing the Truffled Mac & Cheese Croquettes to start. Three 1½ inch cubes, filled with mac & cheese showed up, slightly breaded and fried. They were nice, but they could have been a bit cheesier.
For our mains, I selected the Woodland Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto, which came with some Parmesan crackling. The risotto had a good bite to it, which I like, but it was a little skint on the asparagus. My wife chose the Cured & Roasted Loin of South Coast Cod, served with some fresh peas and brown shrimp on top. Although tasty, the portion was disappointingly bijou, and the fresh peas in the description turned out to be a quenelle and a smear of pea purée.
As we were still a little peckish, we also had a desert. My wife had a sticky toffee pudding, which was nice enough, but again a bit bijou. I had an apple crumble pie, which is just like an apple crumble, but then in a crispy pie case.
Although the food was pleasant, but not great, we found the experience a little "odd". Perhaps that was also because we were the only ones in the room having dinner — the tables on either side of us were only doing drinks — or that with every opening of the door there was a cold blast of air. We won't be returning.
Fish!
Close to Borough Market, Fish! is a long-established seafood restaurant, and along the street from Mallow which we visited a couple of weeks ago. Fish! is located in a glass lined and roofed building, which I suppose in summer could get quite warm. My wife — who picks the restaurants — commented that she had never dined in Fish! but had been fancying trying it for several years. When we arrived at around seven, the service was just getting going.
We were shown to our table very speedily, by a friendly waiter who briefly explained the menu. We decided to go for a calamari to share to start, which came with a very garlicky mayonnaise. An oyster each add some extra flair.
My wife enjoyed a sightly "brunchy" main of smoked haddock with bubble and squeak, and a poached egg on top — unfortunately the poached egg was set, rather than being runny. The dish came with a pot of a well-made hollandaise sauce which finished things off nicely.
I had the roast Sea Bream special, which was served with cockles and mussels in a slightly spicy tomato-y sauce. The skin was crisp, and the bisque delicious enough that I ask for a spoon to slurp up the leftovers.
For dessert, my wife enjoyed an apple ice cream with a shot of Calvados, Affogato style — these paired really well and made a nice change from the traditional espresso and vanilla ice cream version. I enjoyed a dense chocolate mousse. Delicious, but probably a little too much!
With our meal we enjoyed a crisp bottle of Txakoli, a lightly sparkling wine from the Basque region of Spain that we very much enjoyed when we were in San Sebastián last summer. This paired well with the food and was an immediate choice when we saw it on the menu.
If you like fish and seafood, we can recommend Fish!
Bertie Blossoms
Bertie Blossoms is a tapas bar/restaurant near Ladbroke Grove, at the Northern end of Portobello Road.
We were sat at a table upstairs at the small cosy restaurant, going past a large abstract artwork by the owner. There were a few tables occupied, with the bar downstairs relatively busy too. It is not a large establishment, but it felt cosy and welcoming. The upstairs was a little low, so careful if you're tall like me!
The menu contains of a few bar snacks, and a dozen or so sharing plates — tapas style. We ordered the Padron Peppers from the snack menu, and the Gambas al Ajillo, Baby Carrots, Woodland Wild Mushrooms, and meatballs from the "To Share" section.
The dishes were served in a random order, with the meatballs first. They were served with a spicy Nduja sauce and topped with grated cheese. The baby carrots were served with some yoghurt, a Labneh, and had some toasted hazelnuts sprinkled over it. The wild mushrooms came with some toasted sourdough, which was great to lap the remaining juices up with. The gambas were whole, but it was easy to remove the flesh from the shell. Some focaccia on the side helped with the cooking juices again.
All the dishes were well presented and flavourful. Our only gripe was that many of the items of the sharing dishes came in odd numbers. And perhaps that half of the music was Ed Sheeran songs (played at a discreet volume) — but then again, that isn't bad considering he owns the place.
Mallow
Mallow is a plant based restaurant housed in an old building just outside Borough Market, around the corner from the Golden Hind.
We picked Mallow, as my wife had heard three separate groups of people raving about it when she was out and about in London. One group at the gym, one on the tube, and the third group whilst walking down Regent Street.
Whilst there were many lovely sounding things on the menu, we opted for the set sharing menu, with wine pairing, as an introduction to what Mallow had to offer.
The menu started with some plump Gordal olives, alongside some pimped up hummus (or tahini chickpeas as the menu puts it), served with squashy flat bread. We also enjoyed some tofu in a smoky red pepper sauce topped with some pickled veggies — there was a slight aniseed flavour which my wife is normally not a fan of, but found it palatable enough. Our starters were paired with a fragrant rosé wine.
The middle courses were a mushroom tortellini (which the table next door decided against, as its "default veggie you get everywhere"), and a mixed salad. The tortellini was tasty, with a good mushroom-y filling. We also enjoyed the lovely mixed salad with juicy bits of tangerine, a light dressing, candied nuts, caper berries, and pine nuts. These two came with a crowd-pleasingly fruity red wine.
Finally, there was a coconut Pasanda curry with cauliflower and tofu cubes. It came served with a flavoured pilau rice, which included almonds, pomegranate, and apricots. This was paired with a medium bodied white wine.
We considered dessert briefly, but were both too full, so we called it a night. We were delighted that when we asked for the bill, the waiter came with it, and the card machine — no hanging around here.
We would definitely return to Mallow, but would probably pick off the à la carte menu, and have fewer dishes — but even as people who aren't into a plant based diet, this was food we enjoyed, and we didn't miss the lack of meat or fish.
The Island
I had many a pint in The Island when I moved to London 16 years ago, as it was the closest reasonable pub. I don't remember haven eaten there, but having walked past more recently, I suggested it for a Friday Night Dinner.
On a rainy evening we headed to this pub in the middle of a residential neighbourhood. It was already buzzing outside, with people hiding away from the rain under the awnings, smoking away. My wife could also unfortunately smell this cigarette smoke when seated inside, close to a window, which put her off the food.
For our starter, we picked a scotch egg to share. It was nicely flavoured with a runny yolk, and was served with a sweet curry sauce. For my main I choose the slow roast free-range pork belly, served with white beans, winter kale, salsa verde. The skin wasn't particularly very crackly, and a little chewy at times. The white beans were OK, but could have been a bit softer too. My wife had the onglet steak, which was served with gentleman's relish and fries. The fries were nicely cooked and crispy, but the steak was cooked medium to well-done, rather than the ordered medium rare.
But what left down the meal, and the Island experience generally was the haphazard service. Upon arrival, it was speedy, although my wife, who arrived first, had to wait quite some time for the table to be prepared. We felt left to our own devices after our mains. It took a very long time for the dessert menu to show up, and then a significant amount of time before we could request, and then receive the bill.
One of my personal pet peeves in restaurants is that when the bill is presented, the waiting staff often do not have the payment terminal with them, and have to go and fetch it separately. This is a waste of everyone's time especially as we'd like to get going, and I'm sure the restaurant would like to fill the table with some more paying guests. In this case with the meal being mediocre it was more annoying than usual.
Unfortunately The Island didn't live up to my memories, nor our expectations, and it seems unlikely we'll be back for a meal or drinks.
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