Vinoteca

Vinoteca is a wonderful wine bar that serves excellent food in Farringdon, just on St. John Street. It also has a venue in Marylebone but I’ve only frequented the Farringdon venue on occasion over the past 4 years. It was here I suggested to catch up with my friend from South Ken.

We arrived after work and unsurprisingly in a venue that doesn’t take reservations, the space was already full for dinner, comprising of a typical after work mixture of professionals, business and creative types. We were offered the extensive wine menu and offered a bar stool while we wait for space to me made. Although our host tells us that the wait should be 45 minutes, we waited only 15 minutes. This was just enough time to order a glass of prosecco and browse the wine menu. Given the extent to the menu I found it difficult to make a decision and we eventually settle for a Santa Duc.

Upon being seated we order some olives and almonds to nibble on. They’re salty and tasty. For our mains I order the lamb and my friend goes for the polenta. Both main courses arrive quickly, probably too quickly as we're still nibbling on the olives and almonds.

The lamb is served with delicious mashed potatoes, greens and gravy. The cut of lamb is full of flavour and falls of the knife. It’s cooked to perfection. The polenta is served with cheese, greens and gravy. I tasted the polenta and it was quite nice, but nothing to particularly rave about. Ok yes, fantastic no. The lamb however I would say was pretty fantastic.

For me Vinoteca is more than just the food, it’s the wine and the ambience. The seats are packed tightly together as you would expect in any French bistro. It’s a great place for a chinwag and a good catch up with old friends. It would also be a great location for a first date or a nice evening out full stop. I would also recommend it for a working lunch. French in design, the wine and food match the French expectations. My only advice would be to seek advice to navigate the wine menu. 

The courses are affordable, the lamb excellent in value at £14.95 and the polenta at £10.95. The olives and almonds cost £3 and the wine just shy of £22 per bottle. It's probably because I'm spoilt for choice in some my regular haunts in that sparking water is provided by the house. At Vinoteca it was charged at £2.50 per bottle and this was a bit annoying. I would have much preferred for an extra couple of quid added to the cost of the mains and serve filtered sparkling and non-sparkling water. But it's not a stickler. Our bill for 2 came to £100 tip included.

Ducksoup

After previous failed attempts of visiting Ducksoup in Soho, it was for Sunday brunch that I eventually visited this popular establishment on Dean Street. It’s a small venue comprising of stools at the bar, a daily changing menu and a handful of tables scattered throughout the L-shaped venue. The menu is simple suited towards a tapas of sharing dishes, complemented by a fuller main course menu from the kitchen.

I arrived slightly before my brunch companion, so spent time people watching and checking out the venue in general. Ducksoup has the vibe of being a bit too cool for school and not in a good way necessarily, and on the Sunday we visit the venue is frequented by parents with their freshly delivered infants from the stork. It’s surprising that babies so small take up so much space, or at least their buggies do. The parents seemed to have little interest in moving said contraptions (the buggy that is, not the baby…though….).

Seated at the bar, we started with the (excellent) bread, green olives, saucisson seche, and delicious ratee potatoes served with dill and cucumbers. I could not find fault with any of these selections. They provided a wonderful array of flavours and I additionally liked the assortment of ware they came served in.

We followed the tapas with an order from the kitchen. Here we opted for the marinated seabass presented with blood orange and the shoulder of braised lamb and canelli beans served with zatar . With hindsight ordering both of these at the same time was an error. The reason why this was a mistake is that the seabass struck me as being a traditional cold starter.

It was tasty and I think would have tasted even better if we had ordered it as a starter or at least earlier than the lamb. Instead, it arrived the same time as the lamb which had a strong meaty taste to it and overpowered the more refined flavours of the sea bass. What’s more was that as the lamb was truly mouth watering. Really, just superb. All energy was expended on admiring the melt in your mouth lamb and the sea bass was forgotten about somewhat so I don’t think it received the justice it deserved.

While we ate, records were spun from the player located just inside the door. We decided to share a crème caramel for desert. It was underwhelming at best, by far the poorest or our selections, just really bland I suppose. At £5 for dessert, bland is not the word I want to have to use to describe my dessert.

So, the venue is nice, the food very good, there was something however that just didn’t quite hit the spot regarding the clientele. Maybe it was just an off day. That said, the food couldn’t be faulted (except the dessert). Lunch for 2 excluding alcohol came to around the £40 mark.

Burger and Lobster

So I sent the word around, putting forth that Mayfair was offering a restaurant purporting to serve burger or lobster for £20. That’s right, £20, in Mayfair. Suffice to say, people were interested. Having finished earlier than anticipated at my pre-arranged hair appointment, I headed up early towards Green Park and to the restaurant as a no reservations policy was in operation. As it was a Friday evening, I assumed it would be busy. I arrived around the 6.30pm mark and already the list of names was long. Others clearly had a similar plan to my own. The lovely doorman took my name and number and informed me that it would be around 2-3 hours by the time I would have a seat. He directed me to a boozer around the corner where I and my friends waited and caught up. For the most part we discussed whether we would have burger or lobster. You’d be surprised the level of self reflection and soul searching that takes place when deciding on what to opt for. Two of the boys, proud as punch decided to go halves, so traumatised were they by the potential of food envy.

A couple of hours in we had not received any telephone call so we figured we’d head back and have a drink at the bar while we waited for the patrons to finish up their food. Luckily we did as the kitchen was soon to close. The front of house manager seated us at the bar to enjoy a beverage while we waited for our table.

Seated at the bar we got chatting to the barman to solicit advice on what to eat. For him, it was the burger every time, and when he informed us that the kitchen was soon to close, we hurriedly placed our order as the trauma would have just been too much had we missed out on the food after all the discussion. After pronounced deliberation we selected 2 burgers, 2 lobsters and 1 rolled lobster. When the floor manager returned he told us that he had informed the kitchen that we had arrived and that they would have continued for us anyhow, which was a very nice touch.

As we awaited our order we looked on enviously at the patrons around the bar enjoying their dinners. A look of contentment permeated their facial features as they masticated their food. Being seated at the bar offered the advantage of watching the barmen make the cocktails, an artistic endeavour in itself.  

It didn’t take long for our order to arrive. All the mains were served with fries and salad. The plates are monsters, their contents wonderful. The lobster was offered grilled or steamed.  The consensus was that grilled would be best giving a slightly smoky feel to it. The thing with lobster is that it makes your work for it. A lobster scissors was provided but I required assistance to break through the shell. The reward was succulent lobster. The rolled lobster in a brioche bun was a calorific intake of happiness rolled in a light mayonnaise type sauce. There was a bit of a kick to the mayo, maybe some wasabi, but just a slight kick.

The burger was served with bacon, melted cheese, lettuce, red onion, tomato and pickle. The pattie is quick simply phenomenal , and it has the added benefit of being possible to just pick up and bite into unlike the lobster which makes you work for its goodness. Each main course was very satisfying. One of the boys upon completion of his burger said with an understated aplomb that it was probably the best burger he had had in the last two years. He likes his burgers.

Before we visited, we had concluded that £20 seemed cheap for a burger but expensive for a lobster. Following our dinner, and in anticipation of my next visit, I think I would select the burger as it was truly delicious. That is not to say that the lobster was a poor second best. It was not. It was also most excellent. It’s just that the burger rocked and joins the upper echelons of the burger society in London, joining the greats like Lucky Chip, Hawksmoor and so on. Fine company to be in.

Whether it was the fact that he spotted us taking pictures of our delectables and figured out that a blog may ensue, or whether he was just a decent bloke – the latter I think, and if the former, how bad; our barman offered us a tour of the lobster tanks. The transportation of the lobsters follows the seasons. At the time of our visit they were flown over twice a week from North America. As the season progresses they travel from further south down the East American coast. It’s nice to be guaranteed that the lobster is fresh. Shame they don’t get to see more of London after travelling such a distance but hey ho what to do.

Advice, get there early and get the name on the list, otherwise you will be disappointed. Be prepared to wait a couple of hours. Just head to a local boozer, there are several around the corner in Shepherd Market to choose from to suit an assortment of tastes. Oh yes, and if ordering cocktails, do not order the long island iced-teas as part of the soul of the barmen die each time a patron asks for this drink.

The venue is great, the staff at the door, the management and the bar staff were flawless in their professionalism and friendliness. If I was to make any complaint, it would be that being Mayfair, there were a fair few wanker banker patrons in attendance. Hopefully they buy the expensive wine and cocktails (long-island iced teas I assume) that keeps the venue rolling over. Our bill for 5 people totalled £140 inclusive of tip and 1 beer each in addition to our burger and lobsters.