London restaurants- which would you choose or other recs from the hounds?

[nancoise]

Hi. I will be travelling on biz to London in early September and will stay for 4 days. Will be travelling with a friend/client and want to eat in some interesting places. Love ethnic, Indian, Asian and Modern Eclectic.

This is the list I came up with. Can you all give me some recommendations and poo-poo any of those that just are plain passe? I picked Bibendum because of the building and architecture hoping that the food would be terrific but if not, I can delete it.

• E&O restaurant
• Bibendum
• Pearl
• L’Autre Pied
• Maze (not the Maze Grill). I truly hate Gordon Ramsay but I hear this place is very good even though it’s in a Marriott (ugh)
• Corrigan’s Mayfair
• La Petite Maison
• Arbutus or Wild Honey – which of the 2 sister restaurants are good?

For Indian, there is a great place near St Martins Church that I ate at before and loved. Can't remember the name but know where it is. I ate at Redfort as well but it's not what it used to be.

Thanks to you all for your input!
Best,
Nancoise

[limster]

Try:
Kikuchi (Japanese izakaya)
Min Jiang (dim sum lunch, don't miss the xiao long bao and the Shanghai-style shumai)
Abeno (okonomiyaki house)
101 Thai (Isaan Thai, order from the Isaan page at the back of the menu)
Noodle bar (hole in the wall with very good Lanzhou style hand pulled noodles)
Asadal (Korean, excellent panjun, the non-korean bbq dishes were better)
Original Tagines (Moroccan)
Chez Liline (Mauritian inspired seafood)
El Piratas de tapas (excellent tapas)
Alwaha (Lebanese)
Mohsen (Persian, excellent mixed grill)

Between L'Autre Pied and Arbutus (haven't been to Wild Honey), I'd pick Arbutus -- much cleaner technique, more robust flavours, better editing and tighter combinations.

[nancoise]

Thank you so very much for your response. In searching the boards, your posts come up frequently and I appreciate your passion for food and the sharing of the experience. If you ever need any expertise in NYC or Miami, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.
I'll check these out that you've provided but I may need more tutelage on what do order from Noodle Bar, Abeno... I am not a great lover of Japanese food becuase I find the dishes not to have much variation which is why I am wondering about the choices you provided. Perhaps I shouldn't be so judgmental and with your help, you can make some further recommendations within the list. Thanks much

[limster]

At Noodle Bar, order the handpulled noodles (there are several varieties of soups, beef appears to be traditional, but the important thing is the noodle). Be sure you're getting ones that are freshly handpulled (the chef does that seconds before he drops them into the boiling water). If you're adventurous, you can try begging the chef to make knife shaved noodles, another Northern Chinese speciality, this one from Shanxi,

At Abeno, the items to get are okonomiyaki, which are a savoury pancake like dish cooked on a hot plate (which makes up the bar). They come in different varieties with different ingredients (although cabbage is basic, as are the mayo sauces).

If you're coming from NYC and Miami, I'd definitely put Lebanese high on the list, and also second the Ishbilla rec from Harters.

[zuriga1]

Don't let Maze being in a Marriott put you off. It's a separate entrance, and you will not feel as if you've entered a hotel. I love the food there, and Ramsay may own it, but the chef is Jason Atherton and the food is very good... a different sort of dining experience.

[Harters]

For "modern", I never pass an opportunity to recommend Hibiscus.

For Lebanese - Ishbilia (in Knightsbridge); one of the Maroush places (Edgware Road) or one of the Noura ones. All have enjoyable food but different styles (some of the Maroush places are more casual than others).

[JuliaCWoK]

If you want to push the boat out - I still love Nobu! They also make the BEST pear and cinnamon Mojitos - they're fab!

[pj26]

Both Arbutus and Wild Honey are great - Wild Honey has a slightly more formal feel to it, due to the heavy wooded panelling and plush seating - Arbutus has more of a buzz (which I prefer but it does depend on the occassion). I havent been to Bibendum for a while now - not sure what the food is like but it is a lovely space. I walked past Red Fort yesterday and it looked like it was closed for refurbishment. I like Chowki around that area for Indian

[LotsC]

Really good indian try Indian Zing in King Street, Hammersmith - absolulely delicious food, very well presented and good service. I'd do Min Jiang at the Royal Garden Hotel, W8 for dinner. Or alternatively Taiwan Village, bottom end of Lillie Road SW6 where the chef will prepare a menu for £23 which has many courses and you never quite know what will come next (he was the chef at Hunan in Pimlico Road for many years)
101 Thai Restaurant - absolutely fantastic, also in King Street W6 - I second that.
Adam's Cafe Moroccan in Askew Road, apparently where the 2 Ruth's hold the RIver Cafe Christmas Parties - fantastic food, friendly family run place
The River Cafe itself - sublime but hugely expensive.
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

[oonth]

Good shout with Indian Zing, I'm also a fan based upon my 2 visits there, I should be championing the place more vociferously. My favourite dishes so far have been the mussels rasam and the baigan/makai bharta. Which dishes have you enjoyed most?

They have a series of food fiestas running at the moment starting with a biryani one, might be worth checking out.

http://indianzing.co.uk/

[howler]

i checked that link - the chefs name is vasalkar, which is maharastrian. holy cow! you now have the chance to get maharastrian food here in london, don't miss it.

[oonth]

Yes Manoj Vasalkar is the owner and he's a maharastrian Mumbaiker. He's also the executive chef so not sure how much cooking he actually does there. I was told they have 5 chefs from different regions of India which seems to be reflected in the menu. When i specifically requested to try some maratha dishes, they recced me vegetable bhanavia from the regular menu which we found very tasty. If you click on the What's on tab and scroll down, you can see the maharastrian fiesta menu which will be available from 2nd to 14th November. Would be interested to hear how you think the menu reads, I've spent some time in Mumbai and have eaten well there but know very little about maharastrian cuisine.

One thing I feel they have done wrong with the restaurant is to overdress the place in terms of decor, furniture, crockery/cutlery etc. This means that the average meal price is more West End than High Street although there's no doubting the quality of their ingredients and deliciousness of some of their dishes.

[howler]

the maharastrian menu is good.

but it's the sort of menu designed to titillate maharastrians: you've eaten vaal all your life by itself, now try vaal this way etc.

i think he'd been better served with first show casing the classics and then getting adventuresome later on. for example, karanji is a wonderful sweet (traditionally made during diwali) that encases a coconut mixture in a crescent shaped dough - he's got a shrimp filling instead! as a maharastrian i might find it interesting as a riff, but it's not maharastrian cooking.

its an old, old gripe of mine: why on earth do these talented chefs feel the need to re-interpret and jazz up old classics when these dishes are new and potentially earth shattering to a western audience? just because these dishes are old hat to us maharastrians doesn't mean they're going to be boring to a more general audience, no?

it's the same basic insecurity that leads to an overdressing of the restaurant etc. its so frustrating that one of these days i'm going to put my money where my mouth is, open a restaurant and persuade some maharastrians to come here and cook the classics.

[greedygirl]

I'm going to check Indian Zing out, probably tomorrow, after work. Thanks for the tip.

[oonth]

Me too especially as they have a guest Goan chef coming over from India for the Goan fiesta between 6th and 17th September.

Some of the best Indian food I have eaten in recent years in London was prepared by a Goan chef called Jude Pinto at a restaurant local to me called Eriki in Swiss Cottage. His sous chef was Punjabi, they both cooked with a light and skillful touch and their styles and respective regional expertise complemented one another nicely. Jude has now moved on but I know he is still working in London and I plan to locate his whereabouts!!

[howler]

just had lunch there - good maharastrian thali with excellent chapatti (considering its a restaurant)! didn't think the day would come, but here we are.

they're amenable to suggestions and they're willing to cook some of my favourites next time i'm there. which is, like, tomorrow.

[PhilD]

And another positive review here: http://www.doshermanos.co.uk/search?q...

[howler]

ok, i took a look at this review and couldn't stop laughing. i especially liked that bit about the dhansak showing signs of "proper, unhurried cooking".

gee i wonder what that is. and i wonder how many dhansaks the reviewer has had the pleasure of eating before.

[greedygirl]

Are you talking about Indian Zing or Eriki, howler?

[howler]

indian zing.

[greedygirl]

I had a thali there as well - general standard was good apart from the main dish, which was strangely bland and underspiced. I want to try more stuff (and definitely the mussels and the dhansak) but unfortunately I can't make the chowdown.

[howler]

what was the main dish, gg? in general a thali is a bunch of different things along with chapatti and/or rice, no one thing is supposed to stand out.

[greedygirl]

It was the Malabar chicken curry and despite being billed as very spicy, it wasn't at all. It tasted "flat" to me. There was no tang from the tamarind and it seemed generally underspiced, as I said. The chicken used was noticeably of very good quality though. I really liked the meloni tarkari though, and the dum gobi mutter (one of my favourite Indian dishes).

[howler]

i'm starting a separate thread - join me there, will you?

[zuriga1]

Not to worry - we've cancelled the dinner... just not enough interest. Maybe we can all go one day, spur of the moment.

[cimui]

I haven't tried Arbutus, nancoise, but my meal at Wild Honey last night was very good, overall. The highlight was the warm smoked eel appetizer, which was served with very thinly sliced sweet and sour turnips underlying, crispy boneless chicken wings alongside, microgreens of some sort and sweet corn in the form of a puree. Although the chicken and sweet corn didn't really have much to do with the other components of the dish flavorwise and the chicken was just a tad overcooked, the smoked eel was unbelievably good -- probably the best thing I can remember eating in at least the past two months. The fattiness of the eel took very well to the smoking and contrasted perfectly with the slightly bitter microgreens and pickled turnips. I would go back to the restaurant if this were the only dish they served.

For my main, I had salmon trout with wild mushroom duxelle, carmelized pearl onions and a few slender stalks of fennel. This preparation was actually very simple, despite the complicated-sounding set of ingredients. Fish was reasonably fresh and was simply pan fried in butter, with a slightly crisped up skin. (In truth, it could've been fresher, given the simple preparation, but it was not anywhere near the point of being offensively fishy.) The wild mushroom duxelle was fantastic: creamy, bursting with flavor, beautifully made. This duxelle, along with the buttery, caramelized onions, made a sort of deconstructed dressing / stuffing and was lovely with the fish.

Dessert was a warm clafoutis served with plum compote, a fine sprinkling of ground pistachios and milk sorbet. It was homey and comforting and warmed up my innards -- a welcome thing, as by dinner time, it was cold out and I was underdressed for the weather. The clafoutis was well made, moist on the inside and nicely crisp on the outside, everything else was well matched to it.

Overall, this was quite a nice meal. As I mentioned, I have no basis for comparison with Arbutus, but if you were to end up at Wild Honey, it certainly wouldn't be a bad decision.

Including a bottle of pinot noir I split with my dining companion, the bill came to about 65 pounds / person -- pretty reasonable by London standards, I think.