SW London goes global

The latest in my series of SW London restuarant mini-reviews for the lovely people at Heaver Magazine - took the ol' hood global with a whistle-stop culinery tour through Korean, Italian, Japanese, French and Argentinian (Entrée (French), Bistro Delicat (Austrian), Lola Roja (Spanish) and Doukan (Moroccan) are other notiable entries that missed out on the global stage as they'd already been reviewed).

Manson (SW6)

The owners of secret-gem gastropub The Sands End have upped their game to a fully-fledge restaurant in Manson, bringing in ex-Ramsay protégé chef Gemma Tuley to give a very un-pubby gastro French flair to their brassiere-style offering. Knowledgeable young things explain the menu peppered with ‘my favourite’ and appetite-whetting descriptions of the more inventive twists on classics sitting t alongside the untwist-ables such as oysters, terrine and lobster thermidor with truffle mash (don’t leave until you’ve tried it). But it’s the sharp presentation and interesting execution which lifts Manson head and shoulders above your average local restaurant and that will make it a classic.

Manson

676 Fulham Road

Parsons Green

SW6 5FA

020 7384 9559

http://www.balthazarrestaurant.co.uk/

Red Monkey Lounge (SW11)

Past the burly Friday-night bouncer and through the dimly-lit, packed bar isn’t where you expect to find fine sushi but find you shall, with an Asian-infused cocktail in hand. The menu is tapas-style and with a kitchen headed up by ex-Sake No Hana chef Pawal Wiktorek, these are no average bar snacks. Platters (kushiyaki, katsu or tempura) offer an easy introduction, with the grilled ‘kushiyaki’ selection including buttery belly pork, marinated just-done beef and a multitude of marinated veg. Sushi is super-fresh, while tuna katsu and spice ika (deep-fried strips of squid) are battered with the lightest of hands. Plus with three karaoke ‘pods’ downstairs, you can even sing for your supper.

Just a couple of tempting snaps (it was very dark and I, um, kept on diving in before I snapped... well I did say they were tempting - spider maki and the lightest tuna katsu)

Red Monkey Lounge
50-52 Battersea Rise
SW11 1EG
020 7924 6288
http://www.redmonkeylounge.co.uk/

Franco Manca (SW9)

All the accolades heaped upon Brixton pizzeria Franco Manca don’t weigh heavy on their produce – the sourdough bases are feather-light, while meticulously-sourced toppings are more-ishly minimal. With only six pizzas and two wines to choose from on the menu, it won’t be long until your choice is out of the wood-fired ovens specially imported from Naples and in front of you. Only open when the market is (which roughly equates to Monday to Saturday lunchtimes) the queue is almost as famous as the food, but if you’re not one for queuing (or lunchtimes) the recently opened Chiswick addition is an authentic export with an added reservations line.

Franco Manca

4 Market Row

Electric Lane

Brixton

SW9 8DL

020 7738 3021

http://www.francomanca.co.uk/

Santa Maria del Sur (SW8) - you know how much I love this one!

Argentina is generally known for two things: Evita and steak. Focusing on the latter (sorry Madge) has seen Santa Maria’s steady rise to South London fame and a recent appearance on Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word. You don’t come here for anything but steak, starters are nothing sensational (grilled cheese, chorizo, Serrano ham), but the steaks, oh the steaks – from 8oz to a pound of fillet, sirloin, rib-eye or rump – are served plain and simple (you can order sauces but that would be defying the point). The wine list, like the beef, is born and raised Argentinean and equally juicy and delicious. Argentina will be crying that this one got away.

Santa Maria del Sur

129 Queenstown Road

Battersea

SW8 3RH

020 7622 2088

http://www.santamariadelsur.co.uk/

Cah Chi (SW18)
Korean food might not get the top-billing of its Chinese and Japanese neighbours, but Cah Chi is no bit part. The star of the SW London Korean scene at their New Malden branch, the Earlsfield incarnation loses some of the more unusual dishes but excels in the crowd-pleasing barbecued fare. But don’t dive straight for your hot plate: glistening translucent dumplings and spicy stir-fries whet your appetite nicely before the table-top barbecue is revealed and your choice of meat sizzled then wrapped in a lettuce leaf with spring onions and Korean ‘miso’ called chang. With green-tea cheesecake and sake to round things off, plus a BYO on wine, Cah Chi is sure to come to play a regular role.

On our visit we opted for the set menu - hit me:

Our 'amuse bouche': fried soya beans, various (slightly mystery) pickled veg and a very-mash-potato-like potato salad... not a highlight, but there was plenty more to come.

Miso soup and more salad, we're getting warmer...

Now this was more like it and they were coming down thick and fast: vegetable stir fried noodles...

Delicately shiny pork dumplings...

And hot hot hot squid stir fry... yum.

But this is what it's all about: the barbeque. Over came the waitress, the middle of our table taken out, hot plate lit and we watched on tender hooks as she deftly chopsticked the sizzling pork (it was near as damnit bacon, mmm) until it was crispily perfect.

Then to add a 'healthy' element the bac...uhum.. pork was wrapped in a little lettace leaf 'pancake' with shredded spring onions and kang (miso-like) sauce... refreshingly delicious.

Now I don't normally opt for desserts in Asian restaurants a) because I'm normally so stuffed and b) I have, shall we say, a few bad experiences. But green tea cheesecake? My favourite dessert on a health kick? How could I resist. And I was pleasantly surprised... especially when washed down with sake and sticky sweet plum wine.

Cah Chi

394 Garratt Lane

Earlsfield

SW18 4HP

020 8946 8811

http://www.cahchi.com/

Viennese treat - Bistro Delicat, Battersea

I admit the last time I was in Vienna, inter-railing aged 18, I had far from a gastronomic time. Aside from a lot of amazing cake, most of my foodie memories involve bread and cheese from supermarkets at the best, and McDonalds and Pizza Hut at the worst on a rainy Sunday after we rashly decided to take a night train to Venice on Sunday night, check out our hostel on the Sunday morning and spend the day mooching around Vienna. This would've been fine if it hadn't torrentially rained, and if, in typical European-style, almost everything been shut for Sunday. Even the cake shops. We ended up riding the underground for a dry, warm activity. It was a low point. (Although I've just discovered that one of my favourite museums in the whole world Kunst Haus Vien - a visually-intoxicating museum built by and dedicated to Austrian artist/architect Hundertwasser. The man believed strongly in colour and little in straight lines - is actually open on Sunday. We visited on Saturday.)

Anyway my knowledge of Viennese cuisine extended little beyond cakes (I blanked out the other disasters). Wiener Shnitzel maybe, but I don't think I actually ate it there as I was in my weird vegetarian phase (it was a strange time of my life). So when new restuarant Bistro Delicat opened on South West London's eatathon that is Northcote Road at the beginning of July I was intrigued. Not least because it was a new restaurant in South West London that wasn't a chain (harsh, but kinda fair). Not least because of the Ikea goes uber-chic Scandi-esque decor of black and white tiles and neat pale wood table and chairs. But because it promised Austrian cuisine, and I wasn't entiring sure what that would mean on the menu...

The Boy was away playing with cars in Hungary so I met my old uni-friend, the extra-talented and ultra-liability Jonathan. He was half-an-hour late despite living round the corner. But no matter, it gave me plenty of time to study the menu, have owner Erik introduce me to some Austrian whites (which dominates the menu, white and red - you won't find a better selection in London). The French, German and English newspapers hanging waiting to be read on the white tiled walls and the Parisian bistro soundtrack (identified immediately by Jonathan as the Amelia soundtrack, appropriately enough) gave the continental-cafe vibe. As did the multi-European staff (German chef, French sous, and vegetarian French waiter 'It's difficult in France... they don't understand...')

Rye bread and olive oil was followed (with Jonathan's eventual crashing into the restaurant) with starters: Austrian curd ravioli-type pasta Schlutzkrapfen, filled with curd cheese and spinach (a heavier touch but with more bite than traditional Italian pasta):

And a charcuterie board - German Schwarzwaelder Schinken (Black Forest ham), French Bayonne ham, Austrian Tyrol Speck, duck rillette (Erik tells us it had been cooked for 17 hours), saucisson rosette, cornichons and pickled baby onions.

Mains we opted for one more predictable yellow-fin tuna with home-made pesto and tomato salad - which was everything you'd expect, but lovely nevertheless.

The other choice was a given, and I wasn't really given a choice - 'I've been told our Wiener Schnitzel is the best this side of Vienna' says Erik. I was sold. And not disappointed. Feather-light batter, paper-thin veal and a lemon in a muslin cloth (a nice touch).

Not content with showing off the Wiener Schnitzel, Erik's enthusiasm also translated into a taster of scallops and confit pork belly, which was every bit a melting moment as you'd hope.

Sides were really a bit superfluous - ratatouille (average) and intensely and addictively garlicky spinach.

Desserts, well with my past Viennese experience how could we refuse? No cakes this time, but again we straddled continental Europe with French crêpes and Austrian sweet apricot Knödel - deliciously naughty balls of dumpling that tasted like cake gone deep fried... as with the rest of the meal the Austrian elements won out. So much so I even forgot to take a picture... oh well you'll just have to go and see for yourself.

Bistro Delicat
124 Northcote Road
SW11 6QU
020 7924 3566
http://www.bistrodelicat.com/

Steak it to him The BBBBL (Boy's Big Boozy Birthday Lunch) - Santa Maria del Sur

Like most of the important dates in our relationship, Choux Boy's birthday revolves around eating. What are presents but mere things when I could give the him the gift of really great food? Ok, that's bollocks, treating him to a great meal is actually a rather tasty excuse for me to birthday benefit as well, after all I don't think the watch I bought him would fit my wrist too well...

So after eye-ing it up for months, I booked us a table for Sunday at Santa Maria del Sur on Queenstown Road. Even weeks before the big date they only had mid-afternoon tables left (a good sign surely?) so I plumped for 2.30pm (it was a Sunday after all, it was made for lunching) and the Boy's Big Boozy Birthday Lunch (BBBBL) was born.

Not that that was the start of his gastronomic celebration. Oh no. With a lunch so late there was plenty of time for brunch (the BLBBB - Boy's Little Boozy Birthday Brunch - if you will) Champagne, fresh orange juice and Bacon and Parsley Hotcakes (delicious, easy recipe - I added an extra slice of fried bacon to the stack under the poached egg for good measure - well it was his birthday after all - plus a bit of tabasco to give it a kick) set us up nicely.

You don't go to Santa Maria del Sur if you don't want to eat steak. The whole place revolves around the simplicity of serving really great steak. Plain wooden tables and chairs packed together and exposed brickwork do nothing to detract from the big open kitchen with a huge adjustable grill in the window. The menu is steak. There's few distractions. Starters of morcilla, chorizo, serano ham or, if you're not quite ready for the meat, grilled tuna steak. Sides of chips or salads. Variety is not the spice of Santa. But who cares, you only came for the steak anyway didn't you? The wine list, like the beef, is born and raised Argentinian. We opt for a smooth Séptimo Día - Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 - Luján de Cuyo (a choice that prompted the owner to bring us proper red wine glasses 'you need good glasses for good wine' which had the Boy's chest puff a little with his wine choosing prowess) and starters of grilled provolone cheese (which is just cheese, grilled, a lot of it) and serrano ham with palm hearts and mayo sauce. All well and good but nothing special.

It was time for the special. It was time for the steak. They range from 8oz to pound of prime Argentinian beef; rump, rib-eye, fillet or sirloin. The quest for the perfect steak has a almost cultish appeal. It's got a seductive blend of exclusivity, primal carnivorousness and sheer simplicity. It's cow, killed, grilled, on the plate. But what makes one steak great? Who knows. Is the meat, the cooking, the occasion? Well, we ticked all three. Two 8oz sirloins, medium rare.

Gorgeously charred on the outside, baby soft pink on the inside. Moist and packed with flavour. Simplicity as it should be: a handful of salad on the side, a grilled pepper on top. Fat, fluffy chips and a couple of sauces on the side: tomato and onion salsa and mustard and white wine. It didn't need it but it didn't hurt. 'I think this is the best steak I've ever eaten,' says the Boy. That's the idea. Now I knew what all the fuss was about.

Like all good things it had to come to an end and we emerged from our red mist of fine meat and juicy wine back into the Battersea sunshine. Stuffed. Well, not quite stuffed... you see up the road  from Santa Maria del Sur is another great Battersea international import: Italian Gelateria Danieli. Raspberry Ripple and the creamiest Strawberry can-you-even-call-it-sorbet ever in a proper biscuit cone was my final treat. And it wasn't even my birthday...

Santa Maria del Sur

129 Queenstown Road

Battersea

SW8 3RH

020 7622 2088

http://www.santamariadelsur.co.uk/

Gelateria Danieli

47 Queenstown Road

Battersea

SW8 3RX

http://www.gelateriadanieli.com/

Eat local, live longer! (Ok I made up the last bit...)

So with Choux Boy's birthday rolling up this Sunday it means I'm thinking about one thing: no not presents, food. Brunch, cake, dinner: what is a girl to do? Well take a hint is a good start and the Boy want meat. So we're off to check out Santa Maria del Sur up the road in Battersea to gorge ourselves on red meat and red wine all afternoon... a rosy review to follow natch. But in the meantime, to whet your South London eating appetite here's a few choice bites reviewed for the lovely people at Heaver magazine... check out your delivered copy for more if you live in SW (blatant plug).

Lamberts, Balham (SW12)
A bastion for great British produce, Lamberts prides itself on the quality of its ingredients. With seasonality and sourcing top of the agenda, everything on the monthly-changing menu is British from land or sea. There’s no pretence in the understated taupe decor and that ethos applies to the expertly executed dishes as well – chunky chicken and pork terrine with homemade bread and chutneys on wooden slabs, game of the day (‘pheasant, but it’s probably the last of it’ notes owner Joe Lambert who passes on his knowledge and enthusiasm for the food as he serves tables) fresh with shot and thyme potatoes. With food this good, the midweek set menu (Tuesday to Thursday) two courses or £17, three for £20, has to be the best bargain in London.



Lamberts
2 Station Parade
Balham High Road
SW12 9AZ
020 8675 2233
http://www.lambertsrestaurant.co.uk/

Lola Roja, Battersea and Fulham 
(SW11 and SW6)
As close as you’ll get to modern Spanish cuisine without swapping SW for Espana, the popularity of Lola Roja’s table-packed Battersea original saw it branch out last year, opening a second restaurant over the river in Fulham. Recently named Time Out’s best Spanish restaurant, the flavours are classic (chorizo, calamari and croquettes naturally make an appearance) but created with contemporary style – chive foam with the calamari and delicately-flavoured light croquettes make way for melt-in-the-mouth suckling pig with apple puree. The wine list too is a showcase for Spanish flair inviting you to explore bottles grouped under tempting titles: ‘The zenith - elegant, refined and fabulous’ and ‘Brooding, intense and delicious – wines to linger over’. But leave room for dessert – the white chocolate soup with mango ice cream is worth a little lingering for.

Lola Roja
78 Northcote Road
London,
SW11 6QL
020 7350 2262

140 Wandsworth Bridge Road
London,
SW6 2UL
020 7371 8392
http://www.lolaroja.net/

Four O Nine, Clapham (SW9)
Everyone loves a secret, but Four O Nine is one you’ll want to share, at least with that special someone. A buzzer marks the discreet entrance across from Clapham North tube: press and give the codeword (ok, your name) to be granted entry. A concrete stairwell and deserted roof garden lead to a candle-lit dining room, it’s no surprise that is was voted the most romantic dining room in London by a national newspaper when it opened in 2006. Food is Anglo-French fare with an inventive twist – the obligatory foie gras starter is given a tangy twist with pineapple and macadamia nut chutney, while mains are minus the usual French richness so you don’t have to feel guilty about that extra dessert cocktail from the well-stocked speak-easy style bar.

Four O Nine
409 Clapham Road
London
SW9 9BT
020 7737 0722
http://www.fouronine.co.uk/

Rolling with the brunches

Sunshine + weekend = only one thing, lazy brunches. Well, before Pimms in the park. And thanks to the lovely people at Heaver magazine I was out and about in the depths of sunny south west London reviewing brunches... how very well timed. Reviews to come with their summer issue but for now, in pictures...

Friday - Eggs Benedict

The French Cafe

16-18 Rittherdon Road
Balham

SW17 8QD

020 8767 2660
http://www.the-french-cafe.co.uk/

Saturday - A Classic fry-up with a twist

Doukan

350 Old York Road

Wandsworth

SW18 1SS

020 8870 8280

http://www.doukan.co.uk/

 

Sunday - The Fishy One

Schmidt's

2 Rookery Road

Clapham Common

SW4 9DD

020 7720 7787

http://www.schmidtsrestaurant.co.uk/

Feeling Moor-ish: Doukan restaurant review

Since moving to 'sarf' London with Choux Boy last month I've felt a bit lost with my dining options. No more Tas Firin, no more Muhib curry on Brick Lane, no more Viet-Ho on Kingsland Road. Ok, enough the 'East is best' hipster-pretence chat, I need to reset my default dining settings.

So with that in mind, and the fact that Choux Boy and I hadn't been on an actual 'date' since we moved in together, I dragged him off to new-ish Moroccan Doukan on Old York Road on Wednesday. The press release boasted: 'truly authentic Moroccan restaurant opened last month in leafy Wandsworth Town by culinary heavyweight Khalil Abdesslem, owner of Nomades Foods one of London's top suppliers of the finest Moroccan sauces and condiments.' My tummy was rumbling.

'Do you think I can have hummus?' I asked Choux Boy.

'Hummus isn't Moroccan.'

Told. Ok, my hummus-obsession got a mis-signal.

Hummus or not Doukan was pretty packed (always a good sign), and, we were told when we arrived, Channel 4's The F word were in filming (must be a good sign). Was that ok? Give me a menu and a glass of wine and I'm sure it will be fine. The clientele looked typically Wandsworthian - older couples and thirty-somethings with their babies. One of which was crying, right in my ear.

'See in East London there weren't any babies,' I hissed a Choux Boy.

'Oh, Filo she's just tired and hungry and irritable, like someone else I think...'

Fortunately our waitress appeared with my Moroccan white wine (when in Rome... it was called Ksar 2007 for any wine buffs - it was, ok) and the Boy's beer.

First up starter Halumi Maquli - lightly fried halloumi with fig chutney. The batter was perfectly just there and the halloumi a world away from the chewy teeth squeaking variety I've had so often. The fig chutney had a hint of Turkish delights to it that me and the Choux struggled to put our finger on - rose water? It was good.

Next up we did the classic half and half order of Chicken Mcharmel Tagine (aromatic chicken tagine in coriander, tomato and green olive sauce with couscous) and Kefta mechouia (grilled lamb kefta with fragrant shallot salad and couscous). Doukan is big on the authentic touches (and the menu says everything is made fresh on site), so my tagine came all roasty in a proper tagine dish. Both the chicken and the lamb were well cooked and tender and couscous very light and fluffy. The shallot salad was, well, just a salad and we never did manage to work out what that orange sauce was, but it did taste good.

Last up some Halwa Maghribia (assorted Moroccan pastries) tasty, goo-y and nutty. I even forgot about the lack of hummus.

Doukan

35 Old York Road

Wandsworth Town

London

SW18 1SW

020 8870 8280

http://www.doukan.co.uk/