Hi,
As promised, here is the list of menus we had at the above mentioned
restaurant in London's Theatreland the other day.

Menu 1 ("Divine")

Yellowfin tuna sashimi, toasted seaweed, shiso sprouts, ginger
blossom. Served with Billecart Salmon Brut rosé NV match 4-5

Caramelised coconut chilli lobster tail, watercress, pomelo and basil
salad, fried shallots. With Schloss Vollrads Riesling Kabinett '02
match 4-5

Spiced oxtail consommé, beef cheek and water chestnut wontons. With
Domaine Fontaine Marsanne'02 (Pays de l'Hérault) match 3

Roasted red mullet fillet, chilli salt squid, smoked bacon, black ink
noodles. With Sanchez Romate 'Regente' Palo Cortado - Sanlucar
match 3

Sichuan spiced, soy braised squab, stir fried green beans, green
peppercorns, chilli jam with Hewitson 'Old Garden' Mourvedre '02
Barossa. match 4

Menu 2 ("Wicked")

Scottish Salmon and toasted nori tempura, green tea noodles, ponzu
cucumber, avocado, wasabi fying fish roe. with Kim crawford Sauvignon
Blanc, Marlborough '03 match 5

Tea smoked barbary duck, seared diver scallop, lychee and asparagus
salad. with Rully 'En Truffière' Vieilles vignes (white) Burgundy
match 4-5

Saffron prawn and fennel broth, spiced prawn dumplingd, mussels, fried
basil. with Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling '02 Clare valley
match 4

Steamed halibut fillet and foie gras, porcini mushrooms, soy ginger
consommé. with Charles melton rose of Virginia '03 Barossa valley
match 3

'Three little Pigs' Twice cooked pork belly, caramelised pork hock,
spiced pork sausage, black pepper noodles. with Domaine de Font-sane
Gigondas '01 Rhone match 4

Menu 3 ("Delicious") - vegetarian

Sesame green tea noodles, toasted seaweed, shiso, ginger blossom,
salted duck egg. with Billecart Salmon Brut Rose NV match 4

Chilli salt bean curd and caramelised coconut, watercress and pomelo
salad, fried shallots. With Schloss Vollrads Riesling Kabinett '02
again. Match 5

Spiced turmeric lemongrass broth, spring onion wontns garlic chives.
with Valpollicella classico, Allegrini, '02 Veneto. Match 3

Spinach and shiitake mushroom bean skin pastry, green chilli yogurt
sauce. with Gary Crittenden 'I' sangiovese '02 King Valley
match 3-4

Combination eggplant, asparagus ginger garlic relish. with Mt
Difficulty Pinot Noir '01 Central Otago. Match 4-5

--
Then we had two desserts between us
I had a disappointing Mandarin Toffee sandwich (without wine as I was
driving)

Tony & Jacquie shared 'Golden Gaytime' Caramel, honeycomb and hazelnut
chocolate ice cream pyramid palm sugar caramel (decadently divine)
with Orremus Tokaji 5 puttonyos aszu 1999 Mad match 5
despite the one wine having three mistakes in its name on the menu (as
typed)

Very briefly, the overall concept was that each menu was designed as
an consisting of dishes of increasing power and complexity. This
worked pretty well on the first two menus, but much less well on the
vegetarian one.

I'll not do a critique of each dish, nor each wine. However, the
outstanding dishes for us were the Yellowfin sashimi (1.1) The sichuan
spiced squab (1.5) The barbary duch and scallop (2.2) the 'Three
little pigs' (2.5), the Sesame noodle etc (3.1) the bean curd salad
(3.2) the turmeric/lemongrass broth (3.3) and the ice cream.

The Schloss Vollrads was wonderful with the food, and a lovely wine on
its own rights. The Mourvèdre (2.5) was a delight, as was the Pinot
Noir (3.5) & the SB. The Rully was a complete surprise to all of us,
tasting like no Rully any of us has ever tasted. Blind, I'd have put
it as a top Savennières, from a year of very ripe fruit. The Watervale
Riesling had the typical alsace paraffin-ish nose, and was lovely too.

Overall, well worth while, though the meal comes expensive when taken
with all the wines. Fascinating, and with GREAT assurance, especially
for a place that has only been open abt 6 weeks or so.

All the best
Ian
(To reply by email PLEASE don't use "Reply to" but
use my name at wanadoo.fr) Thanks.

Anthony Hoare wrote:

> Hi,
> As promised, here is the list of menus we had at the above mentioned
> restaurant in London's Theatreland the other day.

Wow!! There is a decent chance that I will be in London next Summer.
This sounds like a "must visit" type of place (though Jean may not speak
to me again if she's not there with me...)

> Sichuan spiced, soy braised squab, stir fried green beans, green
> peppercorns, chilli jam with Hewitson 'Old Garden' Mourvedre '02
> Barossa. match 4

Did Sichuan spiced mean any sweetness? If so, I am surprised that the
Mourvedre went so well. Of course, I don't know quite how an Aussie
Mourvedre resembles a Bandol rouge (e.g.) but I assume that it was of the
berryish variety...

>
>
> Menu 2 ("Wicked")
>
> Scottish Salmon and toasted nori tempura, green tea noodles, ponzu
> cucumber, avocado, wasabi fying fish roe. with Kim crawford Sauvignon
> Blanc, Marlborough '03 match 5

yum yum yum and furthermore yum :-)

>
>
> Tea smoked barbary duck, seared diver scallop, lychee and asparagus
> salad. with Rully 'En Truffière' Vieilles vignes (white) Burgundy
> match 4-5

??? Was the duck lightly tea smoked? If not, I truly can't imagine any
Rully blanc standing up to the intensity of the smoke flavor. BTW, this
was Girardin's Rully blanc? Which year, Ian?

> Spinach and shiitake mushroom bean skin pastry, green chilli yogurt
> sauce. with Gary Crittenden 'I' sangiovese '02 King Valley
> match 3-4

Aussie Sangiovese would have been further from my mind when thinking of a
pairing with this dish. How do you think a lighter red from the S.
Rhone would have done there?

Fascinating post, Ian. Thanks!

Mark Lipton

Hi Mark,

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 18:29:52 -0500, Mark Lipton >
wrote:

>> As promised, here is the list of menus we had at the above mentioned
>> restaurant in London's Theatreland the other day.
>
>Wow!! There is a decent chance that I will be in London next Summer.
>This sounds like a "must visit" type of place (though Jean may not speak
>to me again if she's not there with me...)

Well, we were pretty impressed as you'll have gathered.The inspiration
of the menus was truly eclectic, and the execution almost perfect, I'd
say. It's not a huge place, so early reservation would be essential.
As for Jean - she had better come too- is all I can say!

>> Sichuan spiced, soy braised squab, stir fried green beans, green
>> peppercorns, chilli jam with Hewitson 'Old Garden' Mourvedre '02
>> Barossa. match 4
>
>Did Sichuan spiced mean any sweetness?

Very slightly sweet,

> If so, I am surprised that the Mourvedre went so well. Of course, I don't know quite how an Aussie
>Mourvedre resembles a Bandol rouge (e.g.) but I assume that it was of the berryish variety...

It was pretty soft but as you say berryish. Plenty of power which was
what was needed. However, it is also fair to say that by the time I
was tasting this combination, I'dalready had 13 tastes and assessed 13
matches! With no notes, amd no spitting, it could be that my judgement
was - ahem - coloured.

>> Menu 2 ("Wicked")
>>
>> Scottish Salmon and toasted nori tempura, green tea noodles, ponzu
>> cucumber, avocado, wasabi fying fish roe. with Kim crawford Sauvignon
>> Blanc, Marlborough '03 match 5

Although the match was magnificent, the dish itself was the least
exciting of my 5, I felt. I ended up with the faint impression of a
jumble.

>> Tea smoked barbary duck, seared diver scallop, lychee and asparagus
>> salad. with Rully 'En Truffière' Vieilles vignes (white) Burgundy
>> match 4-5
>
>??? Was the duck lightly tea smoked?

Yup.

> If not, I truly can't imagine any Rully blanc standing up to the intensity of the smoke flavor. BTW, this
>was Girardin's Rully blanc? Which year, Ian?

2000. But as I said, it's like no white Burg I've ever had before.

>> Spinach and shiitake mushroom bean skin pastry, green chilli yogurt
>> sauce. with Gary Crittenden 'I' sangiovese '02 King Valley
>> match 3-4

>Aussie Sangiovese would have been further from my mind when thinking of a
>pairing with this dish. How do you think a lighter red from the S.
>Rhone would have done there?

Again, this dish was less of a success than one might have expected in
a sense. In principle Christine Manfield (australian) was trying to
create menus of increasing intensity of flavours and it's extremely
hard to do so with vegetables, which just don't have that intensity.
Given the power of the turmeric and lemongrass (sort of thai tom
yum-ish) broth, the two later dishes suffered from a slight sense of
anti climax, I felt. The wine did improve the dish slightly, hence the
/4 in the marking, but was unimproved by it, hence the 3/ part.

>Fascinating post, Ian. Thanks!

Fascinating meal. After all the wonderful TNs we get here, I owed one!
I don't do them well, however.

By the way, if you're over in London, get an a/c (free) with Harden's
on line guide beforehand, which will give you excellent info. I'm
racking up Gary Rhodes' place and "La Trompette in Chiswick for next
year. Monday we're off to the Wolseley. Yesterday it was a cheapo
roast duck and rice (best chinese roast duck in london) £4.50 a head
at the the Four Seasons in Queensway.

All the best
Ian
(To reply by email PLEASE don't use "Reply to" but
use my name at wanadoo.fr) Thanks.