Another Food Blog

I found myself in the vicinity of the Wolseley in London’s Piccadilly. Knowing that they keep a few tables for chance customers, we asked if they had a table, and they did. When the Wolseley opened it soon made its mark on London’s dining scene, not surprisingly, given that Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, previously with the Ivy and the Caprice, were part of its inception.

My croustade of quail’s eggs and hollandaise starter was brilliant, the eggs soft-poached exactly right. The sea trout was a piece of fillet rather than the whole fish I’d expected. It was rightly judged, though, because it was pink, moist, and very filling, and even though quite salty, was very satisfying. The sea trout is a migratory variant of the brown trout. It came with cous-cous, with the advertised water-cress not evident, though maybe incorporated. This was a pretty classy meal. I stole an Atlantic prawn from another plate, but resisted the soufflé Suisse. The wine was Valençay de la Loire 2005 from Sebastian Vaillant. The Wolseley is a completely reliable high quality place with great food and a real atmosphere to it, and I’ve never failed to enjoy a meal there.

A quarter of this…

…made two delicious bowls of this

Just soup, yes, but it was fresh pumpkin soup which I made with my traditional recipe. It was really good – I don’t remember ever making it better. It’s a little bit time intensive, but well worth the effort. The rolls were wholemeal floury baps, which have quite a strong taste that can overpower delicate tastes. A week ago I tried a combination of fresh fig and Greek yoghurt, but the result tasted too ‘bready’ because the filling couldn’t match up to the bread. The pork and mango chutney combination worked perfectly, however.

This time I had cottage cheese and vine cherry tomato in one, and found the tomato tangy enough to make it work, though the cottage cheese would have been lost by itself. In the other I had cold poached salmon, cucumber and mayonnaise, with black pepper and just a dash of white wine vinegar. It was superb, with a taste that lingered pleasingly.

The Mekong is the name not only of the great river in Vietnam, but of one of London’s oldest Vietnamese restaurants. It’s in Churton Street, and has a few tables upstairs and more downstairs in what were probably once cellars. Vietnamese food is done with such style and attention to taste and balance that it has long been my favourite cuisine.

My dumplings with soya and chilli oil were very good, but easily matched by my companion’s shredded smoked chicken in a light breadcrumb-like coat and with a beautiful dip that left a tang of hotness on the mouth without overdoing it. My main course was chicken sautéed with cashew nuts and pineapple; it came (as always at the Mekong) in an almost plum-like sauce like the one served with fragrant crispy duck. It easily outclassed the sizzling coconut chilled lamb which, despite its name, was surprisingly bland. The onions with it were good, though. The wine was a Stormy Cape 2005 South African Chenin Blanc at 14 percent, from the Coastal Region. It was perfect with the meal.

Last week my vinegars, now my oils. I use four regular ones, but do occasionally buy in others for special recipes. From left to right, first comes my basic cooking oil. I use sunflower oil to fry and sauté foods. Although I’d normally use sunflower spread in pastry shortening (and sometimes goose fat), I have used sunflower oil in emergencies. It makes a decent shortcrust pastry, but I have to judge when there’s enough from the texture (suitably crumby) rather than by measuring quantities. I also use it in things like scrambled eggs.

The basic olive oil I use for things like drizzling over barbecue vegetables, or when a recipe calls for something to be cooked in olive oil. The Sainsbury’s extra virgin olive oil is mainly used in my salad dressings, mixed with balsamic vinegar. The Farnese extra virgin is excellent for dipping all types of bread. Sometimes I pour it into a shallow dish with some balsamic vinegar at the bottom. Again, it’s a nice dip.

For many years it was Very Simply Nico in Rochester Row, created by chef Nico Ladenis, and served highly-rated food, but too rich for my tastes. Recently it has changed into a mid-market Italian restaurant called 2 Amici, and serves an extensive and quite imaginative menu. For example, my fellow diner and I both started off with aubergine dishes, each very different. He had marinated grilled aubergines with courgettes, peppers, radicchio and tomatoes. I went for the grilled aubergine with a tomato and basil sauce topped by parmesan and mozzarella cheese. We rated both of these dishes very good.

I went on to grilled tuna, served with marinated chopped tomatoes, black olives, red onions, basil, oregano and capers. I didn’t order vegetables with it, which I just as well since it was so filling. The tuna was quite rare, as asked for, and easily held its own against the strong tastes that accompanied it. The other main course ordered was rabbit, cooked in garlic, rosemary, black olives and white wine sauce, and topped with chopped tomatoes. It, too received high marks.

It was a nice touch to welcome us with complimentary glasses of sparkling prosecco, and we went on to try a wine neither of us had encountered before. It was Carta d’Ora, a Sicilian white made entirely from catarratto grapes, and with 12 percent alcohol. It was dry and quite fragrant with hints of grapefruit and apricot, just right for the food.

The Oxford and Cambridge Club is in Pall Mall, at the heart of London’s clubland. Members can stay there, dine there, or enjoy facilities which include the libraries, squash courts and billiard rooms, the bar, smoking room, business centre and drawing room. It has a splendid marble staircase leading up to its various floors. Dinner is served in what is called the Coffee Room, with high ceilings, pillars and oil paintings.

I began with the smoked salmon and quail’s eggs, but the hot asparagus with Hollandaise sauce looked very good. (”Should asparagus be eaten with the fingers?” – discuss). My supreme of pheasant was disappointing, in that it was indistinguishable from rather tough chicken, and the crispy Parma ham was too salty for my taste, but the creamed Savoy cabbage and chestnuts were good. The sea bass with spring onion and ginger and mustard looked nicely moist and fresh, too.

Afterwards I had the crystallized ginger, and wisely took only four pieces. It was very good, though fiery in the mouth. Fortunately there was still some of the club claret left in the decanter to douse the fires.