Duck & Waffle

Duck & Waffle. Just in a name you have a dynamite combination and it's making me hungry. This restaurant prides itself on it's signature dish; does the name give it away? Expectations are pretty high my friend. What's also high is this restaurant, sitting pretty on the 40th floor of Heron tower on Bishopsgate - your ears pop on the way up, and your stomach does acrobatics at the rapid descent in the glass elevator. It makes for stunning views though, the vastness of the London metropolis reduced to moving specks below.

At the end of your night, bid (a reluctant) farewell to the dirty kebab and say hello to Duck + Waffle. Don't mind if I do...

To put it lightly, Duck & Waffle has been doing a booming trade since its opening in 2012. C and I were fortunate enough to get a 9pm dinner reservation (practically bedtime). As soon as you walk through the door, it's clear that no expense has been spared for the space. It's a pretty gorgeous restaurant, playing hand in hand with the commanding panorama out of those floor to ceiling windows. From each table you have full view into the open kitchen from where you can ogle duck and waffles aplenty. A rippling yellow panelled ceiling gives the impression that you're in motion, a nod to Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. 

Interiors by New York architectural firm CetraRuddy. Swish and swish, not a bad looking place! Credit: Duck & Waffle

Executive chef Daniel Doherty and his team are in charge of a kitchen that operates 24/7, no joke. It is open at all hours of the night, making it ideal for a late night stop-off (won't be needing a reservation then!). The menu sees influences from European cooking but using local British ingredients. A huge selection of small plates like roasted octopus or braised pig cheeks are ideal to share. Or you can go all out and order the larger dishes like grilled lobster or whole roasted sea bass (umm, yum?!).

Half a dozen fine de claire oysters with shallot vinaigrette. These beauties were so delicious (and cost a mint). So fresh that I didn't even bother with the vinaigrette in the end - so indulgent

Steaming hot: Essex beets, goat's curd, hazelnuts, capers, sherry vinegar. Can I just say that this was an amazing salad. Yes, quite homestyle and comforting but it just made me smile. Beetroot and goat's cheese together is pretty much failsafe. Happiness in a mouthful (or several)

Duck & waffle: crispy leg confit, fried duck egg, mustard maple syrup i.e. what we'd all been waiting for. Perhaps not the most elegantly plated dish I've ever seen but it does the job. I must say that the confit duck was on the dryer side and the waffle a bit doughy *sad face*. The dressing on the other hand was lovely (the dish needed the moisture!). Maybe everyone had talked this dish up and up and up and my expectations were too high? Anyway, it fell short of the mark for me. Eaten together on a good night though and I think it would have been smashing

Duck & Waffle certainly has its fair share of wow factor. Set in such a magnificent spot, you could almost distract yourself from the shortfalls in the kitchen. But regardless of what I say you can be assured to have a fantastic time - day, night or in the wee hours of the morning (hit with the sudden realisation that you've never felt more hungry than you do now, or have an intense craving for duck + waffle). The intentions are there; wholesome British food cooked with minimal fuss to please the masses. It's certainly worth a try, if only to order that one dish ;)

The tallest restaurant and bar in the UK (even dwarfing the gherkin!) = bragging rights Credit: Duck & Waffle

Thanks for reading!
xGourmand

Modern Pantry

This time around, my café/restaurant to do list had ballooned out to colossal proportions. Patiently waiting, The Modern Pantry had been hanging in there since 2012 - it was a long time coming. Anna Hansen and her team's modern diner flickered on my radar with their take on delicious seasonal eating. Luckily during this trip I found myself in Clerkenwell time and time again. The lure of coffee most certainly had something to do with it.

Pretty as a picture, right? Hands down, dessert of the trip i.e. perfection on slate. The blood orange curd tart that pulverises the competition, seriously.

This café definitely signals the good things to come for London. reminiscent of Bills for it's all-day dining versatility, Modern Pantry prides itself on a menu that changes daily reflecting the best produce on offer. Speaking of which, the menu is a complete tome with a 2 course daily special also on offer. Several visits are probably in order, or just show up with a big bunch of friends so you can plate swap (does anyone else do this?).

The sleek interiors by Colevin Interiors. The copper lamp accents add a nice touch. The private dining room upstairs is also not to be sniffed at Credit: Colevin Interiors

Happily caffeinated, A and I proceeded to suss out what everyone else was ordering, the choices were quite extensive. The downstairs café has a lovely airiness to it, punctuated with all that white. Upstairs there is a more formal restaurant style dining room as well as a private room for hire. Adjacent to the café is a little shop window filled with magnificent takeaway meals which are sold rather promptly (work lunch, you see) as well as some beautiful gifts - preserves made in house, canvas printed tote bags and the like. It was just getting better and better for me. 

Cappuccino and matcha latte. Okay, so they looked like they've been served to us off floor tiles but anyway! The cappuccino was actually not half bad (it's all about low expectations)

The service was a bit haphazard at times. We sat for the better part of an hour twiddling our thumbs waiting for the lunch menu to be available and ready to order. Quite bizarre considering kitchens have been prepping for the better part of the morning for whole day of service? We were then shifted to another table mid coffee because  our initial table had been booked for a group. Well okay then... Lucky I'm on holiday and not in a grumbly type of mood.

Crispy juniper and fennel braised pig's cheek, celeriac remoulade, pickled mustard seed and apple dressing. This was a stellar start to the meal, this was restaurant quality food knocked out of a modest kitchen. The pig cheek was perfectly crispy and the apple mustard dressing added a complementary punch to the dish. Big tick

When our meals made it out the presentation was consistently beautiful, taking notes from the realms of fine dining. It was obvious that each ingredient was there to serve a purpose, not tampered with and unrecognisable. The food definitely did the talking, as it should always do.

Grilled miso marinated onglet steak, cassava chips (the starchy root vegetable origins of tapioca), Kalamata olive salsa. The steak was cooked well to medium rare but somehow remained quite chewy

Slow roast Gloucester old spot pork belly, edamame purée, curly kale, spring onion and almond pesto. This was a nice piece of pork belly although I found it a bit dry for my liking, perhaps it needed to be more of a braise with lashings of sauce. The purée was also a bit bland and lumpy...oops

Blood orange curd tart, cardamom ice cream, blood orange and grapefruit salsa. From the solid start of entrée to the slight dip in the mains, the dessert was the shining star fo' shizzle. I am such a sucker for a citrus curd tart and this was probably THE BEST. The tartness of the fruit was perfectly offset with sweetness from the curd and the cardamom ice cream was outstanding 

Modern Pantry has gone from strength to strength in its 6 years of operation. Chef Anna Hansen is obviously doing something right, spending her early years under the tutelage of Fergus Henderson (FERGUSSS!!!) and Stephanie Alexander (our home grown foodie hero). She's also written The Modern Pantry cookbook which I can't wait to get my paws on. Serving as a jack-of-all trades, MP caters for the ladies that lunch, the business luncheon or a raucous dinner party to be had in the comfort of a private dining room. Life couldn't get much sweeter in my book.

The Modern Pantry, an all occasion all-star

Thanks for reading!

xGourmand

Mildreds

Finding respite from the meat and 3 veg variety of eateries was quite a task, and it wasn't that choices are lacking in London town. It comes back to the rather curious dilemma of there never being a table, anywhere! Diners are slowly coming around to the idea of vegetarian and gluten-free eating, searching for a health kick in their diet (or is that allaying guilt?). Nobody is perhaps more ready to embrace an emerging trend than a Soho hipster. Enter, Mildreds.       

The rather quaint blue-hued exterior. You know you're in London when you have a dapper gentleman in a trench coat blistering past!

Mildreds is a fairly seasoned player, established over 20 years ago on a small block on Lexington St. Vegetarian food is its major selling point and boy do the locals love it. We found ourselves there at the tail end of the lunch rush and the place was still packed to the rafters! The dining room is a rather simple banquet-seat affair, bathed in sunlight and livened up with a few potted plants. 

Views from the rather stylish private dining room, worlds away from the daily grind Credit: Mildreds

Confronted with the menu, you face the rather daunting task of picking from a multitude of dishes, with influences from all over the globe.  In addition to the à la carte options there are also a number of daily blackboard specials. Whatever you might fancy from Mexican to Sub-Continental, it'll be on there. Unfortunately, I'm not actually convinced this is a good thing. The menu could benefit from being reined in a little. Instead of doing everything at par (or sub par), it would be better to hone your skills on a couple of things done really well. Makes sense, no?

Panfried halloumi, cherry tomato and wilted spinach with balsamic glaze. I don't know about you, but I am SUCH a sucker for haloumi. It's like an achilles heel. This version was perfectly reasonable but nothing gave it that wow factor. I'm sure you could whip up a very similar dish at home. The haloumi from Nomad in Sydney on the other hand definitely had "It" (sorry, folks)

Sweet potato fries with mayo (or chipotle). Again, you could tell immediately that  these fries were basically large chunks of baked sweet potato. I was hopeful for that crunch in the skin without any luck. Suffice it to say I was actually looking for a deep fryer here *Gasps*. I kept having flashbacks to the glorious sweet potato chips done by Veggie Patch Van back home

Sri Lankan sweet potato and cashew nut curry with yellow basmati rice with peas and coconut tomato sambal. This was easily the most popular dish on the menu. It was made rather mild but the samba adds a nice hit of spice. And the serving size is ginormous! 

I need to mention that the service was rather haphazard and generally chaotic that day. One of my fellow diners was given the wrong main which was then hastily corrected. Yes, the restaurant was busy but it has always been that way as far as I can see. Another waiter on the floor might have helped the flow (or lack thereof :S) of the service! 

Fresh tortellini filled with pumpkin and ricotta, with chestnut mushroom, white wine cream sauce, drizzled with truffle oil. Don't get me wrong, I love the odd veggo meal but you don't need to overcompensate with stodgy additions like cream and cheese by the bucketload. I suppose it was a bad menu choice on my part! The pasta was reasonably cooked, but each tortellino had too much filling. This dish was rather heavy going; climate appropriate, yes but also giving indigestion!

All in all, the food at Mildreds was acceptable and reasonably priced. I do think however that they've spread themselves thin with a menu that is brimming with too many options, to their detriment. It sounded very nice on paper but in the end doesn't quite deliver. It's certainly a far cry from veggo food in Asia! The cracks in the service come simply from lacking front of house staff at their busiest times. Of course it's all easier said than done and I know that Mildreds will be bearing the flag for vegetarian cuisine in Soho for many years to come.
  

Butternut squash, pepper, smoked chilli and cheddar pasta bake. Funnily enough, this pasta had less cheese to the sauce than expected!

Thanks for reading!
xGourmand

Jackson + Rye

Dear Londoner,
I've got to hand it to you. Not only do you contend with the routine horrors of the Tube during rush hour day after day, but somehow have the stamina to go out after work; on a weeknight for god's sake. I mean, if it were me I'd be slumped in a half stupor on my couch with a cup of tea in hand come 6 o'clock. So well done, for leaving nothing to chance and booking everything weeks in advance. It's a killer of spontaneity for sure, but I'd rather be eating where I want thanks very much. The mental picture of oneself wandering the streets hungry, cold and clutching a paper cone of chestnuts (or worse, McDonald's) for sustenance is alarming to say the least. It really is survival of the fittest, and the fastest walkers (I was warned). 
Yours truly,
G

Swan past too quick On Wardour St and you'll miss it! Credit: Jackson + Rye

Thankfully, this time round one of us had the savvy to book online (and yes, punters were being turned away as we walked through the door). Jackson + Rye has been bitten by the hype bug pretty hard and it's still going strong after opening in Soho late 2013. It's premise is rather on-trend (darling) being an American style bar and diner seeking inspiration from 1920's New York. With suitably stylish interiors by Martin Brudnizki, Jackson + Rye looked like the place to be in and by that, I mean it was LOUD. Now I'm not a huge fan of shouting to communicate with my table companions but apparently, c'est très cool. Ugh.

This is it, you're pretty much guaranteed a full house 7 days a week. But look how happy they are! Credit: Jackson + Rye

The menu in all its cardboard glory falls just short of encyclopaedic. My head was spinning at one glance, I hadn't even reached the drinks menu yet. So I basically did what I always do,  and ordered a special. Can't go wrong, right? J+R seem to have forged a reputation for their steaks, a great option to please the lads who are looking for a slab of meat and no veg (well, almost). What's nice about the whole dealio is that the menu is all-day, they are literally open from 8am till after 11pm most days which is kind of nifty. But dinner service is where it's at ;)

Mesdames et messieurs, entrée is served...

Truffled mac & cheese with light parmesan sauce. The sauce was indeed very light, nigh unnoticeable. If I was at home, you'd be able to see that parmesan all gooey and sticking between tendrils of pasta, dammit

Shrimp & Grits: hot shrimp, chilli, garlic, spring onion. Excuse my ignorance but I was a bit perplexed here...what are grits?! Ground corn according to wiki - a feature of Southern American cooking. Well, there you go. I found the 'grits' to be quite gluggy, perhaps that was the desired effect but who knows...

And then for main:

Market fish: grilled swordfish with green beans, tomatoes and new potatoes. A very homestyle kind of dish but boy was the swordfish tasty. Gorgeously cooked and super succulent, delicious!

All up in my grill...200g of grass fed beef fillet. Yes, it looks rather sad and unloved on the plate but it also came with a house sauce of your choosing, fries and smoked garlic butter (that's better). By all accounts the steak was cooked well. The asterisk grill marks look great by the way (kidding)

DOLCE (= party time)
Why not do the obvious and order one of each? Duh?!

Baked cheesecake (left) and frozen white chocolate, raspberry soufflé (right). The general consensus was that the cheesecake was the best dessert (we have a winner!). The cheesecake itself was light and fluffy and when combined with the berry compôte = dynamite. The soufflé was a NOT a soufflé, don't make the rookie error of not reading the fine print. It is essentially a semifreddo moulded into a ramekin. I was wishing for Messina at that point...

In complete contradiction to my mostly kind words, Marina O'Loughlin from The Guardian gave J + R a proper ribbing describing the food as "bland and forgettable". Scathing. Our experience at the restaurant was a rather pleasant one, it looks as though a lot of the initial speed bumps have been ironed out now. The service that we received could not be faulted actually and the food was fairly decent. One day, I'll come back and order the grilled lobster (bring out the big guns). Yeeeaah :)

I think now is the time for some sage words from Apu, "Thank you come again!" Credit: Jackson + Rye

Thanks for reading!
xGourmand

Social Eating House

Oh London, how I've missed you! The driving rain and blustery winds have done nothing to deter me from returning, hence the delay in posting (apologies!). With double the population of Sydney, you can definitely feel the buzz of this place. In this little window of opportunity I thought I'd explore London's dining and bar scene to dispel those myths about stodgy English food and figure out what the heck 'modern British' grub actually is. Batter up, Social Eating House!

The hand of Russell Sage Studio has given the place a rather eclectic interior that works well with its über comfy booth seats. Day or night, it beckons to you... Photo credit: Russell Sage Studio

Why not start from the top with this one Michelin starred bistro in London Soho? Chef Jason Atherton is certainly filled with ambition and a quiet confidence. His 'Social' brand of restaurants literally dot the globe whilst his London venues continue to win accolades and local fans. He is also due to open yet another in Dubai. Pollen Street Social, his first restaurant was to win a Michelin star within just 6 months of opening and Social Eating House was not far behind.

If you've been left waiting (and wanting), cosy on up at the bar to a pre-meal tipple Photo credit: Russell Sage Studio

With all that spare time, Atherton has gone on to host the UK version of My Kitchen Rules (sorry to say but their version pales in comparison to the Aussie's) and continues to juggle his restaurant empire (what a cinch!). But let's get down to business here. Thankfully, C and I were able to get a booking, mind you it was on a Monday night! This is just how it goes in old London town, be prepared to dine whenever, wherever (in the immortal words of Shakira). 

Cornish mackerel tartare, horseradish cream. A gorgeous way to start a meal with a  fresh as fresh tartare. Being such a keen bean on seafood I think I'm in the right place

Appealing to my design eye the interior is practically faultless and probably came well over budget at that! The menu is rather intriguing with the addition of 'jars' to the menu which are a selection of potted <insert protein/veg>. These would make such spectacular picnic food I would think. You'd also be pleased to know that each sourced ingredient has the food mileage printed for it for all to see. Delicious food with a conscience - I like that.

Smoked Shetland salmon, miso crème fraîche, BBQ cucumber and winter truffle. Wow, what a looker of a dish. With distinctly Japanese influences, this salmon was certainly rave worthy. A lovely smokiness came through and it was still under in the middle...Parfait!

Smoked duck ham, Braddock white egg and chips. This dish has graced the interwebs and with GOOD reason - it is unbelievably yum! The duck ham is surprisingly delicious and that egg is just done perfectly. The only shame is that you only get half!! Those chips were also excellent (you'd hope, anyways). Make sure you order this one :)

Charred côte de porc, heritage carrots, white polenta, spring cabbage, savory (the herb, thanks wiki). Presenting meat and three veg (almost)! Accompanied with a luscious cabernet sauvignon sauce (good), I thought this dish was rather confused on the plate. All those elements didn't seem to gel. There was also a lot of fat still on the pork which hadn't rendered off - a great shame!

Social Eating House definitely sells itself as a bold and brash bistro. The full house every night doesn't lie, even on a Monday. For refined bistro style food, mark this 'Social' on your to-do list. Be prepared however that it is rather expensive (throw booze into the mix and you're a goner), which seems to be the norm around these parts. A small consolation is perhaps that you can easily find food to this quality in Oz for a fraction of the cost, and they say Sydney is the 5th costliest city to live in (London doesn't even factor in the top 10?!). Michelin hasn't quite made the trek to Oceania yet so for now we can keep our gems secret haha. Ciao for now ;)

HOLY MACKEREL.

I know it's been a long time between drinks so...
Thanks for reading!
xGourmand