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Welcome to The London Foodie
Reviews of London's Restaurants, Supper Clubs and Hotels, Wine Tastings, Travel Writing, and Home to the Japanese and French Supper Clubs in Islington
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Name: Berners Tavern
Where: The London Edition Hotel, 10 Berners Street, London, W1T 3NP, 020 7908 7979,
Cost: a 3-course meal will cost around £50 per person on average (not including drinks or service)
About: The London restaurant scene moves SO fast, so it is rare for me to visit the same place twice - Berners Tavern is however one of the few restaurants I’ve been returning to over the years.
Another good reason for my recent return visit was to attend a fabulous Wine Masterclass with Matteo Montone, Berners Tavern’s Director of Wine, and possibly the best dressed sommelier I ever met!
But besides his uncanny resemblance to Jude Law, Matteo is not an actor - he is in fact about to become one of a very select group of fewer than 300 Masters of Wine worldwide as he finalises his Master Sommelier Diploma this year. In 2019, he was named GQ Best Sommelier and the Young Sommelier of the Year by the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. So we can say, the man knows a thing or two about wine!
Held in one of the most glamorous London restaurants, at @bernerstavern’s private dining room, these intimate sessions held during September are a great opportunity to learn about the art of wine tasting and discover some of the 800 wines from the restaurant’s wine list.
Priced at £45 per person, the classes will have 12 spaces available per session, and there will be 2 sessions per month. Guests who choose to dine at Berners Tavern following the class will also receive 15% off the total bill.
Charming and knowledgeable, Matteo is leading a number of fantastic wine tastings in the coming months - what a great opportunity to meet the man himself, try some amazing vino and dine at one of the most glam restaurants in London!
Berners Tavern is still one of the most glam restaurants in London, I wrote about it in The London Foodie 6 years ago when it first opened (see review here). Berners Tavern is where you take your hottest date, your mum, or your family when they are in town, it is a place where you take folk you want to impress!
And 6 years on, on the Tuesday evening we attended, the place was jam packed - so what is the secret? The menu features some comfort British classics, exquisite British produce which is immaculately delivered, and a fabulous list of 800 wines.
What We Ate: *OUTSTANDING DISHES* were the HUGE Buccleuch Estate Côte de Boeuf served with Berners Tavern’s BLT, a bacon, tomato & lettuce wedge drizzled with a delectable buttermilk dressing (£90 for 2).
Sides of Berners Tavern’s signature MAC N’CHEESE with pulled beef blade (£10) and TRIPLED COOKED CHIPS were nothing short of PERFECTION, I was told the mac n’cheese can also be ordered as a main dish, another reason to return!
Hand-chopped, aged Buccleuch Estate BEEF TARTARE, English mustard mayo and sourdough crouton (£15) and chargrilled octopus, smoked cod’s roe, treviso and chicory salad (£17) made for magnificent starters.
Dessert came in a trio – Peach Triffle with Nyetimber jelly, peach sorbet and deep-fried jam donut was light and refreshing (£9) as was the Gin & Tonic flaming Alaska (£18 for 2) with cucumber, hibiscus and juniper. But best of all was Peanut & Chocolate Ganache with toasted peanut mousse and salted caramel ice cream – rich and so comforting.
What We Drank: With 800 wines to choose from, we were lucky to have Matteo Montone, Berners Tavern’s Director of Wine guide us – his choice of super Tuscan’s Il Fauno, an IGG blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot was a perfect match to the Côte de Boeuf.
Likes: *THAT* Mac n' Cheese with pulled beef blade! Possibly the best wine menu in London. Fabulous decor.
Dislikes: None.
Verdict: To date, this was one of our best meals of 2019 – if you haven’t tried Berners Tavern’s outstanding British fare yet, you are missing out. If anything, *THAT* Mac n’ Cheese is to die for and worth a visit in its own right.
Name: Bubbledogs and Santo Remedio
Where: Bubbledogs at 70 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 4QG (https://www.bubbledogs.co.uk/) and Santo Remedio at 152 Tooley St, London SE1 2TU (https://www.santoremedio.co.uk/)
Cost: A 3-course meal at Bubbledogs cost on average £25 per person, not including drinks or service.
About: Bubbledogs have been serving up their celebrated combination of hot dogs and Champagne from their Charlotte Street restaurant since 2012, when husband and wife team Sandia Chang and James Knappett (who runs the Michelin-starred restaurant Kitchen Table at the back of Bubbledogs) founded the restaurant.
To celebrate their 6th birthday, Chang and Knappett teamed up with Mexican food specialists Edson and Natalie Diaz-Fuentes of Santo Remedio in London Bridge.
The special birthday menu had some of the most popular dishes of both restaurants, and an offer of cocktails or flights of Champagne or Mezcal.
What We Ate: From the Bubbledogs menu, we ordered a selection of their classics. The signature Jose beef hot dog (£7.50), with a zingy tomato salsa, sour cream, jalapenos and guacamole was as good as I remembered.
Equally good was the Sloppy Joe hot dog, served with melted cheese and beef chilli (£8), was rich and very well flavoured.
To accompany our hot dogs, we ordered chipotle tots (£4) - potato croquettes and nachos with the works (£7) - beef chilli, guacamole and cheese.
Best of all though was the black bream aguachile 2 pieces (£8). A Mexican-style ceviche, here served as a deconstructed taco - with thin slices of raw black bream, salsa, guacamole, radish, all brought together with a vinegar-based dressing, I thoroughly enjoyed this dish.
From the Santo Remedio menu, the pork belly torta ahogada (£10), literally translated as a drowned cake or submarine sandwich, came served in a baguette, with a delectable morita salsa. This was for me the star dish of the evening - chunky pieces of fried pork belly filled the baguette, with sliced pickled onions over a spicy smoked jalapeno chilli sauce.
Also outstanding was the braised ox tongue taco (2 pieces, £10), served with with pipian rojo. This classic Mexican sauce is made from various types of chilli, pumpkin, sesame seeds, cinnamon, onions and garlic, among other ingredients. The ox tongue was soft, and combined really well with the accompanying diced raw onion, lime and micro-coriander.
To finish, we had a dessert that resulted from the collaboration between Bubbledogs and Santo Remedio - rice pudding with green tomatillo jam and grated dark chocolate (£5). This was luxuriously creamy, but with a lovely tartness from the green tomatillo jam.
What We Drank: We opted for the Champagne flight, sadly available for one night only. But on the menu there is a range of Champagnes and wines available by the glass or bottle. For example, the Solessence Champagne (see below) is available for £8 per glass or £45 per bottle, while the Collin-Guillaume Rose costs £10.50 by the glass or £60 for the bottle.
We opted for the special birthday Champagne flight (£20). Jean-Marc Seleque, Solessence was a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir, and had lemony fruit and a touch of toast.
The Christophe Mignon was made from 100% Pinot Meunier, and had a rich palate of pears, brioche, with good minerality while being bone-dry.
The rose Champagne offering was Collin-Guillaume, made from all three Champagne varietals, this had lovely strawberry notes, and a touch of vanilla.
Likes: The black bream aguachile, the pork belly torta ahogada and the ox tongue taco were the outstanding highlights. I loved both Bubbledogs, and the incredibly well priced, top quality Champagne. The staff are well informed and enthusiastic.
Dislikes: None
Verdict: Bubbledogs is celebrating its sixth anniversary, serving up its signature combination of hot dogs and Champagne. They still feel as innovative, fresh and vibrant as on day one. Recommended.
Name: Gaylord Restaurant
Where: 79 Mortimer Street, London, W1W 7SJ, http://www.gaylordlondon.com/
Cost: Average cost is £40 per person, not including drinks or service. From the à la carte menu, starters are priced from £7.50 to £12, tandoori dishes from £12 to £16.50, and mains from £15 to £20. Biryanis of king prawn, lamb or chicken are priced at £18.50 to £21. There are two, three-course set menus: the Maharaja Feast (£30) and the vegetarian Maharani Feast (£27).
About: The Gaylord Restaurant in London opened in 1966, and in 2016 celebrated its 50th anniversary. Said to have the first tandoor (charcoal clay oven) in London, it still serves the same fragrant fresh breads and kebabs, Indian and Punjabi fare it did at the height of the Swinging Sixties. Photographs of George Harrison and Peter Sellers posing with restaurant staff in 1966 are on proud display in the restaurant’s entrance.
The 1966 menu is still available for diners to see, and it was a shock to see that portions of chicken tikka masala were priced at 30p, and lamb rogan josh at 40p!
The Gaylord Restaurant is an elegant establishment in the heart of Central London, serving both traditional and modern Indian cooking to a varied clientele of locals, shoppers, families and tourists. The mid-week evening we were there, the restaurant was nearly completely full.
What We Ate: We started with a few delicious golgappa shots (£6.50) – fresh and spicy little pani puri, these are round, hollow puri fried crispy pastry shells, filled with a mixture of flavoured water and fillings like tamarind chutney, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas. At Gaylord, they are served over shot glasses of chilled herbal infusion.
The murg gilafi seekh (£8.50), fragrant portions of minced smoked chicken topped with bell-peppers and chargrilled on skewers, were delectable.
Tandoori tiger prawns (£10) were jumbo-sized and succulent, having been marinated with saffron and Indian spices, then grilled in a clay oven.
In a departure from the original 1966 menu, Gaylord now offers Mexican tacos with an Indian twist. We had the spicy rajma (kidney bean) taco (£7.50) – jauntily served (recalling the colours of the Indian flag) on a gold, green and red toy wire car.
Still on the starter menu, we were tempted by the pao bhaji (£10) - soft buttered buns with mashed potato, vegetable curry, chopped onion and coriander, capsicum. Served in a fondue pot, these were delectable.
Crab cake dakshini (£11) came with a generous amount of meat, deliciously flavoured with curry leaves, aromatic Indian spices and mustard cress.
The lamb chops Anardana (£11), served on a sizzling plate, had been marinated in spices and pomegranate juice, then charcoal grilled to give an irresistible smoky flavour and aroma.
The Makhani Paneer (£11.50), dating right back to 1966, combined cubes of fresh cheese made on the premises, simmered in a creamy tomato sauce. I could see why this had lasted the duration – simple, good quality ingredients, delicately cooked and well presented.
Equally good was the soft shell baby crab (£7), in light batter with spicy Goan masala. This came with slices of toasted coconut (a combination I thoroughly enjoyed) beautifully served in a large seashell.
Gaylord’s butter chicken (£16) was a lip-smacking classic - a deboned tandoori chicken, cooked in a tomato-based sauce enriched with butter and double cream, flavoured with aromatic herbs and spices, including one of my favourites, fenugreek.
Lamb shank (£19), came meltingly tender, delicately spiced and served with a subtle onion and tomato curry.
The fish tak-a-tak (at seasonal price) was a whole grilled fish, filleted (tilapia on the day we were there) and spiced with mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chilli and caraway seeds, served in a tin-lined copper pan.
To accompany, we had a paratha (£4), a piazi kulcha (leavened bread stuffed with onion and coriander, £4.25), and basmati rice (£6), cooked with lemon, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Best of all though was the house speciality of dal bukhara (£9.70). This had black lentils slow-cooked for 8 hours over charcoal, and was deliciously rich and creamy.
For dessert, the carrot pudding - gajar ka halwa (£5.50) blended a hot, sweet carrot pudding with pistachio slivers. The gulab jamun (£9) had fresh cheese spheres, deep-fried and served with a delectable sugar syrup laced with spiced dark rum, flambéed.
What We Drank: Cocktails are priced at £9 to £12. The entry level wines, both white and red, are Beaujolais from George Duboeuf, Le Bouquet de George, priced at £19.90. Indian Kingfisher and Cobra beers are also available.
We were keen to explore the range of Indian wines which Gaylord has just launched under their own label, all from Akluj in Maharashtra. The house sparkling white wine, a Fratelli Grand Cuvée Brut NV, Chenin Blanc (£35) was very well made - bone dry, with refreshing citrus acidity and minerality.
The Gaylord Sangiovesi Bianci (£36.50) was palatable and off-dry, but for my palate lacked complexity.
Better was the Gaylord Fratelli Sangiovesi red wine (£36.50) - fruity and well made, when enjoyed with the restaurant’s spicy food, the cherry fruit and sweetness were accentuated.
Likes: There were so many highlights in this meal – the tandoori lamb and prawns, the paneer, the whole tilapia, the meltingly tender lamb shank and the carrot dessert were all excellent.
Dislikes: None
Verdict: With a 50-year history, there are few restaurants in London that have stood the test of time as well as Gaylords. But this is no surprise - the classic Indian dishes are hard to fault, while service is friendly and well informed. I would love to return to Gaylord soon. Highly recommended.
