Mission: Find the Best Burger in London - Davy's of Regents Place (**Win a Two-for-One" Voucher**)

**THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED DOWN**

Isn't it nice to find good quality food where you least expect it? Euston is not exactly the epicentre of London restaurant dining, but there are some interesting surprises there. Around Drummond Street, the many South Indian vegetarian restaurants and sweet shops (Gupta's) were some of my favourite haunts when I lived in Chalk Farm in the '90s.

More recently, I visited Davy's Restaurant and Wine Bar in Regents Place at the bottom of the Euston Tower to try their burgers. Davy's is better known for its traditional wine merchants and wine bars, but has over 30 venues across London including many that serve food.

This branch of Davy's is unfavourably tucked away in a somewhat anonymous area at the foot of a huge office block. Closed at the weekends, it caters mainly to workers from the many surrounding offices, although it is not far from Tottenham Court Road.

The food menu is reassuringly short, with main courses such as charcoal-grilled rib-eye steak, fish cakes, vegetarian linguini and Cesar salad. It is the burgers though that are the mainstay of this restaurant's menu, with varied choices including wasabi tuna, venison, Thai chicken and Moroccan lamb as well as classic beef options. Beef burgers come in two sizes - 200g and 300g.

I opted for the 200g "Cheese and Bacon Burger" (Denhay cheddar and Suffolk back bacon) @9.95, while Dr G went for an "Alpine Burger" @£9.95 with sautéed mushrooms and Swiss Gruyere cheese.

The meat was flavoursome and tender, the patties were perfectly cooked medium rare as we requested, and were served in toasted ciabatta buns. Although I don't favour ciabatta for burgers finding it too hard or chewy, Davy's was just right with a yielding texture. The burgers were served with four of Amy's excellent homemade relishes.

To accompany our burgers we also had a portion of "Hand Cut Chips" @£2.95, and another of "Mac 'n' Cheese" @ £2.95. These were deliciously crisp and cheesy, and I wished I had ordered a third portion.

As would be expected from the offshoot of a wine merchant, the wine list is a cut above the usual burger chain fare. It is very reasonably priced with many options below £20. We drank a bottle of "L'Enclos du Chateau Lezongars 2002" @£25.50, a Premieres Côtes de Bordeaux - a full bodied and easy drinking wine. I was also impressed by the other items on the drinks menu, real ales, lagers and ciders, and in particular the nearly full range of Greenwich Meantime beers.

For dessert, we had a combination of tasting glasses of crème brulée and banoffee with cream which were delicious and ended the meal nicely.

**Win one of 10 Two-for-One Vouchers for Davy's Regents Place - leave a comment below with your name and e-mail address (mrblogsathotmaildotcom) by Friday, 14th January 2011, names will be randomly selected by random.org at midday.**

Thanks for entering the competition. All comments containing e-mail addresses will be contacted by Davys for their Two-for-One vouchers.


Cost: The London Foodie was a guest of Davy's at a cost of around £13 per person for a burger and accompaniment (chips or macaroni cheese) but excluding drinks. Davy's is a member of Taste Card offering 50% off the food bill to members.

Likes: only Davy's branch specialising in a range of good quality burgers, delicious homemade relishes and a very well priced, comprehensive drinks list.

Dislikes: despite the central location, it is slightly difficult to find and a little out of the way.

Verdict: another excellent option for anyone finding themselves in or around north Tottenham Court Road and craving good quality burgers, chips and Greenwich Meantime beers. I will definitely return. Highly recommended.

Mission: Find the Best Burger in London - Fine Burger Co. (REVISITED)

Fine Burger Co. (REVISITED on 4th and 9th December 2010)

Sometimes I get a "thank you" e-mail from restaurants I review (which is nice), and occasionally a restaurateur will get in touch saying he/she has noted some of my "dislikes". It was with some surprise though that I heard recently from the Fine Burger Co. following my review (here).

Sam Steele, the marketing director and wife of one of the company's two founders, invited me to meet her and Austin Latimer (head chef and co-founder) at their Islington branch. Sam, a former BBC employee, quit her job to join Fine Burger Co.'s top management team and assist the company to address some of the quality issues which they acknowledged had been a problem at the time of my earlier review.

It was with some apprehension that I accepted this invitation but I really should not have worried - Sam and Austin were highly professional, friendly and interested in hearing my feedback. We had lunch together, and unsurprisingly the burgers, chips and onions rings were excellent. The meat was delicious and had been perfectly cooked. The bread supplier had been replaced and the improvement was significant. But then what was the likelihood that I would be getting a bad burger sitting with two of the company's owners/top managers?

Dr G and I decided we had to return anonymously to find out more. On the 9th December 2010, we arrived at the restaurant just before 10pm. Long after peak time, the restaurant wasn't busy, and I half expected things to be past their best. I was pleased to see that the waiter in charge was not the one I had seen there previously with Sam and Austin, so our cover was not blown. The French waiter who helped us on the evening (Lucas) was brilliant - attentive, very friendly and unobtrusive.

I ordered a "Beef Sizzler" @ £7.80 (smoked bacon, aged cheddar, tomato relish and mayo) while Dr G went for "Beef Guacamole and Bacon" @ £7.95 (coriander and mayo).

The burgers were again very good - excellent, tasty meat cooked medium rare as we had ordered. The sandwiches were not overfilled by other ingredients and the focus was entirely on the quality of the meat. The bun had the perfect texture and was strong enough to hold the sandwich together without being chewy or hard.

To accompany our burgers, we also ordered portions of "hand-cut chips" @ £3, "tempura onion rings" @ £3 and "fried baby squid" @ £4.95. The chips and squid were both good although I felt that the onions rings were a tad greasy.

We had a bottle of Spanish Tempranillo at £17 (surprisingly the most expensive bottle on the menu). It was a lovely wine at this price point, with red berry fruit flavours, and a hint of vanilla from the oak ageing.

A very interesting addition to the restaurant since our last visit is their new interactive touch screens by Touch UK Limited. These are great - not only can we see pictures of the dishes but we can also order through these screens. Most importantly, diners can play various games including food and drinks trivia, and play against other tables if desired, much fun.

Much to my surprise I find myself recommending the Fine Burger Co. following my two recent visits. I would be very interested to hear your experiences with this restaurant in the coming months.

Cost: the Fine Burger Co. is affiliated with the Taste Card which gives members 50% off their food bill. Our bill on this occasion was £34 after this discount including a bottle of wine. Excellent value for the improved quality of their burgers.

Likes: much improved patty and buns, great burgers, chips and a very good Tempranillo at £17 only. The FBC participates at a number of events throughout the year including Glanstonbury, Big Chill, Royal Ascot, among others.

Dislikes: the onions rings were adequate but a little greasy in my opinion. Having lettuce under the patty would also help prevent the lower half of the bun getting soggy.

Verdict: greatly improved burgers, very friendly service, excellent value. Recommended.

London Restaurant Reviews - The Almeida

The Almeida

Last year, at the Wine Show in Islington’s Business Design Centre, I got a little “carried away” and purchased a yearly subscription to Taste London for £40 (reduced from £70 @ the Show). The membership card gives you 50% off the food bill (or 2 for 1) in all participating restaurants.

The catch is that the majority of restaurants will not take the card on Fridays and Saturdays, and I suspect that some of the restaurants are only there because they are struggling to find custom (with all the risks that entails).

This year, I decided to try and recoup my initial investment by visiting the restaurants which I know are reputedly good like The Almeida, Gay Hussar and The Admiralty. So last week, Dr G and I returned to our local French restaurant, The Almeida.

I had dined at this restaurant before but had always gone for their pre/post theatre menus. I remember having the most delicious Cassoulet there and so I was craving for another helping.

On arrival, I was gutted to find that their legendary Cassoulet was no longer on the menu. The menu had been substantially trimmed (not a bad thing) and included 8 choices each for starters, main and desserts. The menus were priced @ £27.50 and £32.50 for 2 and 3 courses respectively.

 

 

To start, I ordered the “Terrine of duck foie gras, apple and walnuts with toasted fig bread”. I was impressed by the generous portion of duck foie gras served, and pleased with the quality – it was beautifully marbled and tasted buttery and totally divine.

  

Dr G decided to go for the “Trolley of Charcuterie” which included saucisson sec, rosette, coppa and Bayonne ham, chicken liver parfait and rillette maison (made of pork).

This was unfortunately disappointing – the cold meats tasted good but were nothing to write home about, the chicken liver parfait had a liquid consistency and did not taste particularly nice, and the pork rillete, although well seasoned, was a tad dry.

For main, I had the “Grilled aged British rib-eye, pommes Pont Neuf (chunky chips basically) & sauce Bearnaise”.

Considering the additional £3.50 charge for this option, I was surprised to find a rather small and thin steak on my plate. The meat however tasted very good and was perfectly cooked, rare as I had ordered. The Bearnaise sauce was also excellent but again, there wasn’t much of it.

The other main was the “Slow roast belly of suckling pig, confit root vegetables, creamed Savoy cabbage, and sauce aux epices (spicy sauce). This was also excellent, the meat was incredibly tender and the crackling was beautifully caramelised, crisp and very thin. The accompanying sauce was complex and mildly spicy with delicate flavours of saffron and curry.

Unfortunately, the waitress carelessly tilted the plate as she placed it on our table which didn’t help with the presentation of the dish. I felt that service was overall polite but impersonal, and inattentive at times.

For pudding, we shared a “Valrhona extra bitter chocolate soufflé, with salt caramel ice cream” and “Creme Brulee with warm Madeleine”. 

The soufflé was a tad sweet for an extra bitter chocolate variety, but it was very light and tasted good accompanied by the salt caramel ice cream. In fact, I enjoyed the ice cream more than I did the soufflé itself.

The crème brulee was utterly delicious – it had a delicate vanilla flavour and perfect consistency (neither too hard nor too liquid).

 

We ordered one of the least expensive bottles of wine @ £21 which we felt was overpriced. After Taste London’s 50% reduction on the food, the total bill came to £61. Service is not added to the bill but left at customers’ discretion which is praiseworthy for a restaurant of this calibre.

As with any other D&D restaurant (former Conran), I feel prices are inflated and I would have been annoyed had I paid the full whack, around £100, for this meal.  This might explain the countless newspaper offers, the more affordable pre/post theatre menus, and their Taste London participation. 

Verdict – Good quality French food and wine at inflated prices. Polite but inattentive service. A good and affordable choice for pre or post theatre dining in Islington.