Brunch Archives - Major Foodie

The Terrace at The Theatre Royal Drury Lane (Covent Garden)

Richard Bagnold — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 18:40:42 +0000

Outdoor balcony dining at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane serving brasserie-style choices

This is a little gem I have come across. You do not need to have a ticket for the theatre to seek a reservation for the theatre restaurant, which has a beautiful outdoor terrace for trying their limited, all day dining menu and brunch on weekends. My visit was a spontaneous drop in for the latter and my brunch of poached eggs on avocado revealed some of the best bacon I have ever had with perfect texture and wonderful, smoked flavour. The bacon was from Fenns of Piccadilly (actually based in Acton), the eggs done well and thankfully not freezing avocado which is sometimes the case, but it would have been good if the sourdough was toasted more and not bread-like as a personal preference. On a bright and sunny, weekend morning, dining outside for a brunch on this terrace I would say is one of the most charming brunch spots in the whole of London.

Food Grade: 63%

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Loui (West End)

Richard Bagnold — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 12:45:09 +0000

New venture replacing the original L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in London

Loui is a new venture from Guillaume Glipa who is credited as being the restauranteur force behind Chiltern Firehouse, Zuma and Annabel’s. Some articles attribute the name Loui to Loui XIV of France and others to being named after Loui Armstrong; when I dined in here the manager informed me it was because they served favourite dishes from Louisiana – I’ll go with this. Although on his occasion I only have a lobster in a brioche roll to see what it is like, the premises are very comfortable and well-designed and the manager was kind enough to show the upper level with yet more lovely sofa tables and outlined the roof terrace bar which, in the summer when open I think will be a very good option based on what I’ve seen. The lobster roll is quite pricey (normally £35 but thankfully half price with Luxury Restaurant Guide membership) but it did have a pleasing homemade mayonnaise, the homemade brioche very good and the homemade crisps also pleasing. The pecan pie dessert was well done and as a result it will be worth another go for the set menu or other offerings and I’m quietly confident it is a good choice to try brunch which they also serve.

Food Grade: 60%

Location

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Dishoom (Canary Wharf)

Richard Bagnold — Sat, 24 Dec 2022 09:00:25 +0000

Latest London incarnation of the popular Dishoom chain

The remarkably successful Dishoom expands evermore with this latest opening in (likewise expanding) Canary Wharf. This very new and pristine interior Dishoom sits within the newly developed SE corner and sub-area of Canary Wharf known as Wood Wharf and makes it the ninth Dishoom in the UK at time of writing in 2022 with five others in London (Shoreditch, Kingly Street, King’s Cross, Covent Garden and Kensington) and branches also in Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham. The menu and old Bombay cafe concept is entirely the same here as with the others and whilst I have tried numerous dishes here, I can heartily recommend the brunch option of the bacon and egg naan (still fantastic value at £7.90 with lovely ginger pig bacon) and chai masala (unlimited refills at breakfast). Afternoon and evening food are safe bet Indian food with the daal being another favoured recommendation. Still good, still recommended and especially at breakfast or brunch (served until 11:45am).

Food Grade: 65%

Location

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Ghim Moh Gardens Hawker Centre (Singapore)

Richard Bagnold — Sun, 07 Aug 2022 11:47:10 +0000

Authentic and lesser-known Hawker Food Centre in Singapore

Ghim Moh Gardens Hawker Centre (Singapore) is one of the not so well known options for Hawker dining in Singapore and a little bit of a drive from the centre, but then again, everything in Singapore is only a short drive from somewhere else and easily done. This particular food court was recommended to me by an expert and local guide of Singapore who stressed how good the fish ball noodle option was for a Sunday brunch. The stall that does this particularly well, as expected had a huge queue for this one dish and one can wait up to 20 minutes on average, but I assure you it is worth the wait. Stupidly I was so looking forward to my kaya toast set (kaya jam in buttered toast with soft, poached eggs, soy and white pepper) and was subsequently broken in spirit when not only was this not done very well (served in warm bread not even remotely toasted), but on trying the fish ball noodles, (sweetened with small dose of ketchup and with delicate shards of batter and fish skin) I was absolutely gutted to not have opted for this dish as it was superb. Lesson learned – always listen to the local, expert guide, no matter how much you want something else(!). Other rice options were tried but these were disappointing so on this visit alone I would recommend simply going for this dish and being very attentive to locals a) which one does this dish well and b) for advice on which other stalls are worth trying and which ones avoiding purely for the best return. The fish ball dish I would say is at least 75% in grading, with the total lowered on account of the other dishes that were not quite hitting the spot in execution.

Food Grade: 63%

Location

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BRAT Climpson’s Arch (Hackney)

Richard Bagnold — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 10:16:28 +0000

Michelin starred BRAT's pop-up turned permanent fixture in Hackney

BRAT Climpson’s Arch is the second venture of Michelin starred BRAT’s head chef Thomas Barry, formerly of Kitty Fischers. This was intended as a COVID pop-up but has since stood the test of time thus far and was reported as going permanent on my Sunday brunch visit. I’m sure there are some quality dishes in the mix here as the menu is very similar to the Michelin starred version in Shoreditch, but sadly this cannot be said for the brunch menu which you will need to spend a lot of money for the one dish option with an egg (which perhaps should be a staple item on any brunch menu). This really didn’t work for me and I simply can’t recommend this brunch menu on the selection and small dishes tried, especially as the plum jam had far too much sweetness and utterly overpowered the mangalista (Hungarian ham).

Food Grade: 41%

Location

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The British Pullman Train (Victoria Station)

Richard Bagnold — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 11:13:31 +0000

A luxury train outing and dining experience from Belmond starting and finishing at Victoria Station, London

The British Pullman is a luxury train service owned by Belmond (also owners of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison) with carriages that have a similar heritage to that of the Orient Express. The journeys are varied from simple afternoon tea or brunches on board (approx 3-hour journeys) to lavish 5-hour lunches or dinners or lengthier day outings to English towns including meals onboard there and back, examples of which you can see here. This occasion was a joint Birthday celebration over a 5-course lunch, lap of Surrey lasting approx. 5 hours with no stops (£410 per person, but mercifully discounted through The Luxury Restaurant Guide). The food served was classic and simple British dishes that pleased all guests albeit with one dip and overall was the perfect activity to do for a celebration. A full and detailed rundown of the meal and experience can be seen by hitting the button below.

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Let me start with the cost, as this is probably the first thing you may be wondering. £410 is quite expensive for a lunch granted, but this is aboard a luxury train and was the Golden Age of Travel by Steam, using the original steam-pulled train. Such is the attraction of this locomotive, photographers and train enthusiasts alike were gathered all along Platform 2 at Victoria Station just to have a look before setting off and on return. You can also get a 10% discount as we did if you are a member of The Luxury Restaurant Guide (LRG) whose annual fee was actually covered for in full for the savings of 4 people enjoying this experience at over £160 in savings! I do not have shares with the LRG, but is genuinely useful as an option to consider if you dine a lot like myself for the benefits it brings.

I was also very pleased and somewhat relieved with the value for money of the wine list onboard which included numerous hitters including Dom Perignon 2010 for £200 which would actually cost £180 in Waitrose and therefore is not the normal, hideous mark-up that it can be of being at least twice as expensive retail in retail, far more in lavish restaurants. Veuve Clicquot was also provided to everyone as well on being seated and a £45 voucher to my group of four for spending on any wine included in the price. We obviously used this pretty quickly, but from these to the gin and tonics at £10, I was actually expecting it to be a lot scarier price-wise on the booze, being trapped on board with no other bar options. So this was better than expected.

The head chef onboard the Pullman has been in situ for the past twenty plus years and takes care of the seasonal menus all year round with the periodic guest-chef occasions for menus from Michel Roux Jr (Le Gavroche), Tom Kerridge (The Hand and Flowers) and the eponymous James Martin among others. For this 5 course menu from the resident head chef (which included coffee and petit four) we began the meal with canapes of some very good blue cheese mousse and fig bites (the blue cheese mousse being well-judged) and vibrant, tomato and asparagus blinis. The crab starter was served with avruga caviar, and spicy mango chutney and again, I was pleasantly surprised at the well-judged acidity and quantity of the chutney to spruce up the sweet crab meat. Thin, white sourdough shards and samphire gave an additional, pleasant crunch and texture.

Next came pea and mint soup with crispy shallots and summer truffle oil. I did not establish whether this was genuine truffle oil or whether this was oil using the very common 2,4-dithiapentane (which is actually a synthetic compound). However, the resultant effect was everyone immediately enjoying each mouthful as the soup itself was beautifully rich, viscous with a pleasant truffle-like aroma and lovely complimentary crunch from the shallots. Nothing rocket science level about this, but a very pleasing effect regardless.

The main course on this June occasion was salt marsh from Romney served with charred baby fennel, wild rocket puree, potato and caper croquette and a Kentish wine reduction. All in all, this was a pleasing main but the only disappointment was the lamb being a little tough and not as pink as advertised and therefore hoped. The large croquettes with its caper were a welcome addition with a pleasant breadcrumb shell, all held together with a particularly good jus. But this was the moment that for me that resembled something a little dangerously close to a Business class flight offering.

The cheese consisted of Oxford blue, Costa cheddar and Somerset Brie all served with a very agreeable pineapple chutney with its dialled down vinegar content and this was followed by a Devonshire clotted cream summer pudding made with Angus raspberries, and an elderflower cheesecake. Nothing to sing about on the dessert, but a harmlessly suitable sweet addition. Surprisingly the handmade truffle petit fours were more notable than the dessert and better than most restaurant petit fours and this accompanied tea from Tregothnan and Coffee by Drury.

As we pulled into Victoria there was a bit of a hold-up and we were delayed and the train management kindly offered another glass of Veuve to keep everyone occupied during the wait. On return to Platform 2, I think I can safely say that everyone was in a state that was entirely happy with the experience and stumbling into a taxi was the next and final hurdle to overcome.

My summary is that this is a wonderful celebration activity to do with definitely pleasing food for the journey. It will always be difficult to get high-end dishes for the multitude of covers in the numerous carriages from one, small carriage kitchen, but it was a non-fussy and well-considered to please as a menu selection, ableit with a little dip in the lamb and an adequate dessert. Was it worth £410 (£360 with Luxury restaurant Guide Discount)? I’d say yes with the discount based on what was had yes (including the original drinks offer which can be toned down) and the overall impact the day had. It’s not something you will do every day and inevitably you will end up wanting to splash out more when onboard which, the prestige and glamour of the train will no doubt keep ensuring happens to the many willing future passengers to come.

Food Grade: 62%

Location

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Brunswick House (Vauxhall)

Richard Bagnold — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 09:35:23 +0000

Longstanding and quirky option for breakfasts, lunches and casual dinners in Vauxhall, London

Brunswick House describes itself thus: “Serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in the crumbling grandeur of and antique-filled Georgian mansion, built for the Duke of Brunswick in 1758. Outdoor terrace, cocktail bar, romantic candle-lit dining room, intimate private rooms for eating and celebrating, historic vaulted cellars with an incredible list of rare wines and bar snacks.” For my own part, this is a lovely, quirky venue ideal for a different setting for breakfast and whilst this visit was literally a couple of breakfast baps (a little overdone on the muffins but otherwise ok), I would like to come back and a proper meal here and take them upon their wine list boasts.

Food Grade: 61%

Location

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Le Deli Robuchon (Piccadilly)

Richard Bagnold — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 10:12:30 +0000

A deli opened using pastries and breads solely from the Robuchon brand bakery

Le Deli Robuchon is the second opening in London from the brand since the closure of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in West St in 2019. Le Deli opened in Dec 2019 literally around the corner from Comptoir (on Clarges St) which is the reinvention of L’Atelier. This venue is designed as an all-day drop-in for light snacks, sandwiches and coffee, but also serves breakfast dishes and like most Parisian pâtisseries where many, including myself, have enjoyed going in to look at the all the fabulous tarts and pastries (savoury and sweet) to collect for lunch. This visit to Le Deli proved to have a couple of pleasant breakfast options but is definitely still finding its feet and appears to still be a working progress. If you live in Mayfair this is a very nice option to get your morning croissants, but if you don’t, I would reserve this venue for coincidental passings.

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This delicatessen appeared to have some interesting sandwich options between £6.50 for a baguette with butter and ham to £10.80 for a toasted sourdough sandwich with salmon, cucumber, shiso and ponzu sauce. As with most of the Joel Robuchon brand this is not cheap for sandwiches but there were some as was the case with my bearnaise eggs on toasted sourdough with salmon and spinach for £10.50 which, for a variant of eggs royale (using bearnaise instead of hollandaise) was not bad value as were the salads at an average of £8 all made to order.

Whilst the bearnaise twist on my eggs was a nice change from hollandaise, I thought it would have been improved with a warmer sauce for a warm dish (hot sourdough, wilted spinach, poached eggs with only the salmon being cold as it should be) and the cold bearnaise reserved for the sandwiches. The salmon itself had reasonable flavour. The croissant for the ham and gruyere was not with bechamel as described but this did not matter as the croissant was the star anyway. Incidentally, all of the pastries, tarts and bread come from the Robuchon bakery in Acton and is delivered to the deli twice a day.

I also recommend having a seat away from the front doors which is left wide open to attract in customers as several people smoking outside (either waiting or passing by) meant an unappealing smell of smoke making its way in the deli from time to time, so do opt for a seat on the banquet away from the front door.

Service was a little mixed as descriptions on the menus seemed to contradict what was advertised, my special advertised did not even have the price and on asking for the bill it was quite a lengthy wait and came to me incorrect as it was missing an item. Rather stupidly I pointed out the correction needed – not stupidly because of paying the correct amount for what was had, but because this took another 5 minutes to correct. I can understand a venue recently opened finding its feet, but seemingly through the incorrect bill, most of the staff seemed to be engaged chatting amongst themselves and one particular visitor. Special guests in the staff’s minds will always receive more attention, but when this degrades other guests’ experience, I would say this is more blasé than professional.

Based on two solitary dishes from a deli, this is hardly a restaurant grade of a review, however for what it is offering, it is more suited for upmarket takeaway pastries. In terms of dining-in which it does offer, I’m sure the venue will get on two feet more in due course, but it was a little disappointing for what I was expecting from the brand.

Food Grade: 58%

Location

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St John Bread & Wine (Spitafields)

Richard Bagnold — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 12:14:25 +0000

Casual sister restaurant to flagship St John in Smithfield

15th December 2019
2nd June 2018

A return visit to Fergus Henderson’s sister restaurant to his Michelin starred St John in Clerkenwell. In case you do not see the first review of this restaurant, one of the big differences between them is that this venue serves breakfast until 1130 whereas the Clerkenwell and larger venue serves just lunch and dinner. For this drop-in visit, however, a few bites of the lunch menu were just as welcome. These consisted of duck hearts with a strong garlic aioli (too strong for me) for £6.90, Welsh Rarebit (£7) with a fine bechamel topping on a huge slice of toast (I think would have even better if the slice was not as thick and more akin to how it is done at Wilton’s) and an absolutely silky smooth cod’s roe with stunning confit potato slices. The potato slices themselves are ‘glued’ together with duck fat before being pressed and fried in vegetable oil – very similar in style to those served at Quality Chop House and with equally wonderful effect. Service was a little rushed unfortunately and our waiter evidently wanting to get away from customers as quickly as humanly possible.

Food Grade: 67%

Fergus Henderson is the brainchild and institution behind Michelin starred St John and this, its even more breezy and smaller sister restaurant. Unlike its Michelin starred sibling, here breakfast is served and this was the purpose of this visit. It’s confirmed as a quality option for breakfast with classics such as Scotch Woodcock, deviled kidneys on toast and bubble and squeak with homemade brown sauce. The fried egg was orange and perfect, bacon ‘sarnie’ was great owing to such good bacon and the homemade brown sauce was grand. Breakfast is breakfast, so there is no downside about it not ‘scoring high’ compared to gourmet food as is not the point – this is just quality breakfast in an unpretentious environment and I would come here in a heartbeat over other chain brasseries that claim to do breakfast well.

Food Grade: 65%

Location

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Farmacy (Notting Hill)

Richard Bagnold — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 19:32:05 +0000

Swanky yet casual vegetarian and vegan restaurant in Notting Hill

If you are on the hunt for vegetarian or vegan options in London, this is a pleasant option to go for. It has a slightly more high end feel as a restaurant compared to most London vegetarian venues I have been to, yet the service is very much down to earth, with a menu that caters very well for vegans and those with allergies and dietary restrictions such as gluten-free and lactose-free requirements. My Pad Thai made with tofu was pleasingly close to the real deal and the chef’s curry was at the top of the tree for this meal with a very indulgent sauce. I can’t say I enjoyed the natural wine options that much, but thankfully there are back up selections available for those with traditional wine needs. Overall, this is a well-done venue for vegetarian food and in a not half-bad area of town t’boot. £87 dinner for two with 2 glasses of wine represented reasonable value for money.

Food Grade: 66%

Location

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