St Barts is under the helmsmanship of head chef Johnnie Crowe who is formerly of The Harwood Arms (when under Alex Harper) and Nest in East London.  Our meal started with House made soda bread with slices of pancetta from the loin of Mangalaci, a breed of pig specific to Hungry and widely thought of as the ‘Kobe beef’ of pig.  This was indeed very good and a simple and quality start.

Next up came Jersey beef Denver carpaccio (known for its marbling) which had 100 days aging and was swerved with horseradish perilla flower (within the shiso family).  This had a lovely coating of oil and bite from the perilla which were pitched very nicely.  Next came buttered mushrooms on set custard with mushroom stock, cep, shitake, caramelised yeast butter sourdough croutons and pickled foam – I thought this was cracking with punchy mushroom and indulgent textures and accompanying flavours.

Squash ‘risotto’, was next and was diced squash, puree pumpkin seed, praline and foam from pickled squash juice.  This was indeed carefully prepared and executed but my mind could not help reflect on simpler and more powerful versions of pumpkin or butternut squash as experienced at 2 Michelin starred Kichisen in Kyoto.  Peking duck from Yorkshire was aged two weeks in house to get rid of moisture in skin and served with pickled lingonberries, duck fat and berry compote dressing.  Home made milk bread (very good) was on the side along with a mashed potato side as well.

An additional cheese course was opted for which included Yarlington, Baron Bigod, Beauvale, Sinodun Hill and Lincolnshire poacher, served with Buchanons Oatcakes, spelt sour dough crackers and fruit bread.  All of these were hugely enjoyable and it was also very good to have such good condiments as well which included Medlar and onion chutney and quince.

The dessert was black apple with puffed wheat, black barley cake apple compote, black apple tuile and sour dough ice cream which was a good dessert however I probably enjoyed the flavour of the excellent sour dough ice cream the most – a lovely balance of sweet and slightly savoury, expertly done to accompany the rather bitter apple remainder, which did not perhaps feel like the main component.  Tea came from the Rare Tea Company and Nespresso for the coffee and the petit fours were a skilful couple of chocolate tarlets made with koji, miso and caramel – whilst these were pleasant with well-executed pastry tartlets, normal ganache would have been more enjoyable in a tartlet as my preference if there was a choice. 

In summary, there were some fine aspects to the produce sourcing here, with a very hospitable team and engaging and articulate chef on meeting and speaking with him.  The restaurant is a beautiful place and I was pleased to have experienced it.

Food Grade: 72%

There were many plates that were ordered to share which is the encouraged way at Kym’s.  Tiger prawns that were lightly coated came with a very nice pineapple and sweet chilli sauce which made a good change. A lemongrass salad was quite simple with just some nuts, lime and chilli and was a little puzzling to be this simple but at least was healthy.

Bao (dumplings) came in two varieties – mushroom and ‘bao bao’ of pork and prawn with black rice vinegar, egg and crispy chilli.  The mushroom bao was pleasing enough but the bao bao was something else and delightful in every way – salt, acid, crunch, softness and richness.  Then came the crispy duck which was a certainty to try.  As per its presentation at A Wong, it comes with a paintbrush to paint the gentle plum sauce on to the pancakes which is not only fun, but actually quite practical because it ensures a good spread and helps to not overdo it as I often do. The duck itself was juicy and not dry with good crispy skin.

Three treasures is a Cantonese dish (which is the favoured of the regional styles for Andrew Wong) and consists of three meats: soy chicken, crispy pork belly and barbecued pork char siu.  This was pleasant and the meats themselves had pronounced flavour whilst also not being too dry which was a relief from the appearance. Gai lan broccoli came with soy and goji berries.  Uyghur fries (from Xinziang province, China) were thinly cut and came with mango powder as another quietly pleasant change from the norm.

The dessert was a little more tricky to pin down how enjoyable this was as it was reasonably pleasing on the palate but the mousse that was labelled as coffee really did not taste much of this which was the bit that threw the table a little.  No huge biggie and the pineapple and bun-like add on was good, but just a little puzzling overall.

Overall, I spent £59 for what was a large amount of offerings so I was pleased with this and refrained from drink which made the money go further for this lunch.  It is a stylish place to go and certainly recommended for dropping in to see for yourself as a good option.

Brigadiers is named after the head chef’s Grandad, who was actually a Brigadier in the Indian Army.  This was very pleasant to see as indeed as was my Grandfather a Brigadier in the (British) Army.  Generations on, now his Grandson is head chef with his own cooking Brigade and has devised a menu that is split in to three main parts: street food, barbecue, buns and mains.  These all start from a very reasonable end but can go up in to the £30s for the mains.

The restaurant is a complex of different dining areas and rooms.  There is a main dining room holding approximately 40 covers, a main bar and dining area for roughly 25 and five other smaller rooms for parties anywhere between 6 and 20 people.  Therefore, this is obviously been well thought out for the streams of business functions and parties that I saw when on my visit, most of whom having come straight from work in the surrounding city area, still in their suits and work clobber.  A definite atmosphere in general, from raucous (almost private) rooms to a slightly more subdued main bar area to a stand up pub-like bar area complete with pool table.

Our meal started with a selection of popadoms with different chutneys: tomato and onion seed cheese, mint and pineapple which were good to have albeit harder than most (less the rice cracker).  Nibbles started  cheese and onion bhajis which, as you can expect were quite cheesy.  I have always loved onion bhajis and these were well done with a balsamic and mint dip but in hindsight I think simple, plain onion bhajis work better.

Pork scratchings with chaat and cod roe were interesting, dusted with paprika and whilst being the perfect and upgraded pub asset to any beer, owing to how stodgy these were, there was only so many you could do before truly wanting to try something else.   The Sapper’s egg is a reference to Colonial days in homage to the military personnel who favoured this dish (Sapper is the nick name for Engineer soldiers) and was a very pleasant little dish.  Essentially a soft boiled egg inside a light and spiced naan – probably the dish of the meal.

Then for the main bit we favoured keeping it causal with a wagyu Seekh kebab Anda kati roll and Tawa lobster masala lobster & shrimp kati (a form of heated roll) from the ‘bun’ side of the menu and these seemed reasonably priced at £15 and £12.50 respectively – filling and certainly not £39 for the masala beef rib eye steak with Sapper’s egg.  Hard to see how much lobster in comparison to shrimp was in the former (my guess on looking was not that much) and the rolls were basically harmless but needed a good amount of condiment being as generally dry as they were for the mouth.  The house dahl was nicely spiced but a little watery for my preference.

The meals ended with Kulfis – chocolate with coconut and banana.  Both of these were fine (the coconut having the edge on the other two) but it was at this point that feelings sank a little as the desserts seemed as though they were at the level of a regular chained restaurant or service station with some added decoration for the banana.  There are times when dining when you know a place has just dropped a peg or two in your mind…and at the conclusion of this meal, this was that moment for me.

Brigadiers is certainly an entertaining place and the staff quite well drilled as it happened so no complaints of any kind there – it does what it was probably designed for very well: giving an upmarket curry occasion for city slickers in a plush environment but no more.  Recommended for boozy and group gatherings rather than finesse Indian food – for the latter, I would head to the previously mentioned Indian eateries or, for the absolute gold in Indian food in the UK at the moment, I would head to non-Michelin starred Indian Accent in Mayfair – there you will see a difference.

Going up further steps (which afford wonderful all round views) you enter the modern looking brasserie with the feel of a hotel breakfast room.  The options were reasonable and for £25 you can have as much of the continental offerings with cereal as you wish and one hot dish, however as it was a long, food day, the Eggs Royale on its own with a bloody mary was fine for me.  The latter was presented interestingly and was pleasant, but sadly the muffins were a let down as were far too large and dense and generally there were no ‘hit me’ factors all round.  The hollondaise was clearly freshly made but the  lemon was far too dominant and generally the dish was a little unamigantive (not even a touch of paprika on the top to make a little more visual and less plain).  The wild mushroom on toast was very good though.

This is a unique and lovely place to have an original meet up, but the aspects that I didn’t think make it worthy of the celebrations that were taking place on my visit were the somewhat cold, quick and expressionless service and the fact that it generally felt like an airport terminal.  The reality was in contrast to the more special image I was expecting for an enterprise of this nature.  Definitely worth a coffee to do and would be ideal for a date context, but you also need to prepare yourself for a long queue to get through security as this was the case as we departed – early day visits are therefore recommended to avoid obsene queues.  If I hear anything notable about the restaurant, then this will make me go back for one last pass to see what that is like as is hopefully the greater option, but otherwise it was a pleasant tick to gain.

I was entertained with some quinoa and soy bean white bread, cherry and carrot sour dough and caramelised lemon butter.  The breads were fine and the butter perfectly soft but I struggled to enjoy the sweetness of the butter which didn’t come across well – caramelised onion or smoked savoury notes for the butter may have been better here.

I was in a relative rush and so opted for the set lunch menu.  Firstly, the pea soup starter was absolutely lovely.  The pea sponge and crushed pea salsa added texture well and the mint was beautifully balanced with a brilliant peanut marshmallow – this was a very well done dish.  For the main, the melted high cross cheese in breadcrumbs and charred spring onions with smoked onion puree was also delicious; this really was lovely as well but was just dissapointing to have such a small portion size for a main course and I felt a little shortchanged here.

Finally, the whipped dougnut was cleverly done and the crispy custard was another creative and pleasing addition.  A pleasing flavour on this dish but with quite a sticky texture for the most part and the crispness of the custard (which was presumably designed mainly for adding another texture to the softness of the other components) literally disintegrated in the mouth and so the actual point of the crispness was lost and had more effect visually than in substance.  Several wine options by the glass were available and the most expensive (glass of Sancerre) that I had with the meal was agreeable.

Unrelated to flavours, the negatives of this experience for me, were that although the service was polished and professional, I detected high levels of self-assurance in the staff at the same time, reflected in equally self-confident price tags of the dishes / menu.  I simply believe this to be far too expensive for what was delivered when the ingredients were clearly not as expensive as many meats that Michelin starred restaurants I have been to, have used on their set menus which will be more expensive.  If the portion sizes were more generous at Vanilla Black I believe that would be a simple way to even the balance more – as it is, it is overpriced compared to other options.

However, if cost was not an issue, I would happily eat this kind of cooking for a year without meat and not blink an eye when it is this well done but with dissapointing surprises on the opening nibbles and dessert and overall portion size, the latter being an issue of design. In the main, this is a high end vegetarian option to have in London.  Vegans are advised to inform the restaurant in advance.

The set Dawaat menu was tried on this occasion and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  The popadom variants were broken up in to manageable pieces and served with home made pepper dip, chick pea mix and mango chutney which were all enjoyable.  The mango chutney was very sticky as a first impression but tasted absolutely lovely.  The potato stuffed samosas were also broken up to make more manageble to share and with the green spices this was indeed crunchy, spicy and good.  The seekh kebab was quite punchy in spice levels but not overpoweringly so and was juicy at the same time.  The tandoori oven cooked salmon with dill was a lovely flavour (although I would have preferred it being slightly more pink the middle).

The spiced shrimp was juicy and nicely done in being not too overpowering and the kadhai sauce was a pleasure as well (pepper based vegetable mix).  But the star of the show was the gorgeously succulent chicken (tandoori oven baked to retain as many juices as possible) and it’s marvellous butter chicken sauce.  This was actually better than numerous dishes I have had in 1 Michelin starred Indian restaurants and it was very nice to see a comforting classic dish on the menu (and set menu at that).  The dahl was luxurious enough and the naan breads light enough as well to mop remaining elements up.

Normally I don’t like carrrot cake as I find it either too dry and spongey or tasteless however, this carrot cake was actually very good and the fig helped to add moisture as well as being a welcome sight.  I didn’t think it was possible, but the chai tea served in shot glasses at the end were even better than those I have had at Dishoom and these were spectacular.

If you are anywhere near Darbaar I would seriously consider going in to try a chai tea here based on this strength alone – the visit will also enable having access to their incredible toilets that are heated and offer massages at the same time with suprising results(!).  The overall exerience of the food, in summary, was a strong performance as there really weren’t many things I didn’t like and basically I look forward to being able to come back to try some other menu choices as I have a good deal of confidence in this venue based on this visit…. and I will be sure to grab another chai tea when next in!

Press review.