Eating Out

Fenchurch

Sky Garden, 1 Sky Garden Walk, London, EC3M 8AF

London has some of the most iconic buildings of any city in the world, and what is amazing is the variety, as some of these, like the Tower of London are very old, and some like 20 Fenchurch Street, where Fenchurch restaurant is located, are ultra-modern. 20 Fenchurch Street is colloquially known as the ‘Walkie Talkie’, due to its distinctive shape, and since 2014 it has dominated the London Skyline between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. On the top 3 floors of this iconic building you will find Sky Garden, a lovely public garden complete with tropical plants and observation decks, an open air terrace and bars and restaurants, all with stunning views of London. To the front you can see the Thames meandering its way through London, to the right the iconic dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, and to the left the glassed skyscrapers of Canary Wharf and the Millennium Stadium. The views are truly stunning, and what better way to enjoy them than with a glass of something cold, and delicious quality food.

Fenchurch is located on the 37th floor, which you’ll be pleased to know is accessed by lift (once you have gone through an airport like security system), and provides its 60 covers with an intimate dining experience with stunning views.

The challenge for the designers was to have large glass windows that enable the diner to have the uninterrupted views of London, whilst still keeping an intimate feeling, so diners don’t think they are eating in a vast greenhouse, and at Fenchurch they have got this just right, as the lighting and décor create a warm contemporary vibe whilst still keeping the large windows for the views.

As we walked into the restaurant to our table there was a quiet hum of conversation from contented diners all enjoying what Fenchurch has to offer. This hum never fails to excite me, as it creates a positive atmosphere and a warm feeling inside of me with the anticipation of what is to come.

We were lucky enough to have a table by the window, which I recommend you request when booking, and settled down to review the menu. As we were doing this, we were given a ball of warm sourdough cut in to quarters, along with some light and delicate taramasalata and some marmite butter. The bread was crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, and although I love marmite, I was a little skeptical of its place here. How wrong was I? There was just enough marmite to give that yeasty flavour, but not enough to overpower everything. It was truly a bold and innovative idea which worked really well. Indeed, it was so good we had to have a second helping!

The menu is compact with a choice of only 5 dishes per course, but there will certainly be something you like, and the detail and thought put into every dish is breathtaking.

For starters, my wife selected the Hand Dived Isle of Skye Scallop, XO sauce, pickled mooli and Fenchurch Tuile (£19), and I chose the Sautéed Veal Sweetbreads, cumin yoghurt and minted shallots (£18). It is so easy to spoil the taste of a scallop by over or under cooking or swamping it with strong flavoured accompaniments, but here the scallop was rightly the star of the show with the accompaniments ably providing a little texture or visual pizzaz. Many would say sweetbreads are offal, but I really love them (apologies for the pun!). They were beautifully sautéed and seasoned perfectly, and were accompanied by a smooth yoghurt and topped with delicately pickled shallots which provided just enough acidity to the dish, and if you haven’t tried them, Fenchurch is the place to start.

Our main courses were the Pan Braised Halibut, confit chicken wing, bacon crumb, cauliflower and a curry sauce (£39.50), and the 30-day aged Rib of Beef, braised cheek, bone marrow, carrot purée and thyme jus (£46). Curry sauce with fish can go terribly wrong as the curry flavour can totally swamp the fish, but the strong flavour of halibut and the delicate flavouring of the curry combined to make it a perfect marriage, and the bacon crumb added a lovely addition to the flaky fish. My beef was so succulent and tender and with the fondant potatoes, the smooth carrot purée and the crunchy fried kale, combined to make a wonderful dish which also looked visually stunning.

For dessert, I just had to have the Fenchurch Chocolate Bar, salted almond and buttermilk ice cream (£13), and my wife chose the Pumpkin Soufflé, rum, pecan and Frangelico custard (£13.50). The chocolate bar dessert was my kind of dessert, with rich chocolate, gooey caramel and an almond crunch, accompanied by a creamy buttermilk ice cream, but the soufflé, from a taste perspective, just pipped it, as it was wonderfully light and packed with lots of pumpkin and pecan flavours.

It would be amiss to finish any review of Fenchurch without mentioning the staff and service which were excellent. The waiters are smart, attentive and knowledgeable without being over attentive, and are a throwback to the olden day values. They were there when you wanted them, and absent when you wanted to enjoy your meal with your companion. This level of service appears simple, but so many restaurants fall short in this respect.

A visit to a restaurant should be special, and with spectacular views, wonderful food and quality service, you can’t get more special than Fenchurch.

www.skygarden.london/restaurants/ fenchurch

Electric Shuffle

10 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 2ER

In 2002, I, like many others in the UK, was glued to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, when Rhona Martin and her Scottish Curling team won their Gold medal against all the odds. That evening, along with Rhona, I released and swept every stone down the lane, started to understand the tactics, and realised that the ‘house’ was not just somewhere you lived!

It has taken 20 more years for my frustrated desire to be a curling champion to be fulfilled, which I feel it now has thanks to Electric Shuffle, the new offering from the people who have reinvigorated social darts via their ‘Flight Club’ franchise. Electric Shuffle, is to the uninitiated like me, curling on a table, so the only ice in this experience can be found in the lovely cocktails they serve!

Shuffleboard’s history is not fully known, but it does date back over 500 years and was a great favourite of Henry VIII. Recently, the initial image of shuffleboard is of the older generation pushing a puck into zones on the deck of a cruise liner, but now this image needs to be updated as this old game has been given a 21st Century uplift. The game has now been supercharged by the advent of new technology which allows the location of each puck to be electronically identified and the scores to be electronically determined.

Each table can accommodate up to 16 people, but the games can be enjoyed by any number, and when we visited there were 4 of us. I am not the most technically experienced person, but even I could understand what to do to set up the table and allocate teams. My first mistake was to make it a boys against girls competition, as that made it really competitive, and the second was to think that I would be good at this game and would be able to recreate the spirit of Rhona’s 2002 triumph.

There are 3 games to play, one where you score points the closer to the end of the lane you get, the second where you need to get as close to the centre of a target as you can, and a third where you need to take control of areas of the shuffleboard, and in each game you play head-to-head against someone on the other team. The winner of each game scores a point for their team which generates a friendly rivalry, unless all of your players are as competitive as I am!

Whilst I was being humiliated on the shuffleboard, as clearly the technology was not giving the right position of my pucks!, I consoled myself with the wonderfully attentive table service which kept me stocked up with food and drinks.

Our initial choices, whilst we were playing, were Salt and Pepper Squid (£7.95) Halloumi Fries (£7.50), Spicy Buffalo Chicken Bites with blue cheese dip (£6.95) and Garlic and Sea Salt Pizza Bread with cheese (£8.95). The squid was light and crispy and the halloumi fries meaty, and the blue cheese sauce a perfect accompaniment to the buffalo wings, but the gem here was the pizza bread. This was gooey with a lovely hint of garlic, and frankly it was so good it helped appease the humiliation of my performance in the games. In fact it was so good, we ended up ordering three of them!

Drinks are in keeping with the area near to London Bridge as there are many craft beers, along with all the expected wines and spirits on offer. What is also impressive, is that they cater for those who are not drinking, and the mocktails and non-alcoholic options are plentiful which was a pleasant surprise.

Having finished our game we decided to have our main course at one of the wellspaced tables near to the bar and selected two of the sharing pizzas. We had the Spicy Nduja Pizza (£15.95) with mascarpone and rocket, and the BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pizza with buffalo mozzarella and pickled jalapenos (£15.95). Both had a lovely crispy base, with generous toppings which to me constitutes a perfect pizza.

The cuisine on offer is based on a classic sharing food, which compliments the shuffleboard concept, and I personally love the competitive side of the game, countered by the sharing aspect of the food.

London has many great places to enjoy, but Electric Shuffle is something new, based in both London Bridge and Canary Wharf, where you can have a great laugh challenging yourself and others on the shuffleboard, whilst enjoying wholesome food and drink. What a great combination.

www.electricshuffle.com/london

Giggling Squid

57-59 High Street, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9RQ

The UK has many varied types of cuisine, but my personal favourite is Thai. Thai food takes its influences from India, Malaysia and Indonesia, and to me the sum of the parts has exceeded the individual cuisines making Thai food very special indeed.

Thai food was traditionally eaten with the hands whilst seated with your family, and that’s what makes Thai food so special, as it combines great food with great family values and the Giggling Squid in Esher is really authentic, as although you do have cutlery or chopsticks now, it is run by a family, making it a wonderful example of these Thai traditions. Food is a perfect conduit to bring the family together, and as well as great food, when you dine here you feel you are sharing a meal with family which cannot be topped.

Esher has a multitude of good restaurants, so the competition is stern, but I can understand why the Giggling Squid holds its own confidently, as although this is a chain, so you get the expected quality of food, each restaurant has its own identity and I love this ones family vibe.

The decision as to what to choose from the menu is difficult, as there is a wide and varied choice, all of which sound lovely. Golden Money Bags (£6.99) which are parcels of chicken herbs and vegetables, or in other words ‘happiness in a mouthful’, or Pork Dumplings (£6.99) that are tasty, but we selected the Salt and Pepper Squid (£7.50), which is rightly one of their best sellers, as the slightly sweet and well-seasoned squid is encased in a light and crispy coating, and tasted fabulous. To accompany this, I selected the Yummy Duck Spring Rolls (£7.25). I love duck as it is rich and succulent, and these spring rolls highlighted these qualities and are accompanied by a rich and moreish hosin sauce - perfect.

The main issue with the Giggling Squid’s menu is the battle between your mind and your stomach as to how many dishes you should choose. The selection for mains is extensive, and is split into ‘From the Water’, ‘From the Land’ Stir Fry, and Curry, and whatever you do finally select you won’t be disappointed. We selected the Chicken Massaman (£10.99) which is a rich and relatively mild curry with coconut milk fragranced with cumin, cinnamon and star anise, Salmon Paneang (£15.50), a salmon fillet in a creamy, red curry sauce with stir fried tenderstem brococoli and pak choi, Pad Thai Noodles (£8.99) and some Jasmine Rice (£2.95). The Massaman curry is always a crowd pleaser and doesn’t disappoint, and you may think that salmon isn’t a fish that would work with the Thai spices, but the salmon flavours are strong and it is well worth a try. Pad Thai noodles are my favourite dish, and they were done perfectly with that hint of sweetness that takes the noodles to the next level.

Having gorged myself on the delights of the first two courses I didn’t think I would have space for a dessert, but that was before I saw the choice. I love chocolate, and the Melting Heart Chocolate Dessert (£5.95) is my kind of dessert, as sometimes only chocolate will do!! This is served warm with a molten chocolate core and vanilla ice cream - what’s not to like!! Our other selection was the Coconut Pudding with berry compote (£5.95) which was packed with wonderful flavour whilst remaining light. The coconut pudding floats in a sea of coconut with the sharp and fruity berry compote providing the acidity. A perfect end to a lovely meal.

Thai food has now become one of the nation’s favourites as it caters for everyone, combining wonderful spices with fresh ingredients. The food prides itself on combining all of the six types of taste, and the combinations tantalise the tastebuds. The Giggling Squid prides itself on showcasing all that is good about this cuisine, and at their Esher restaurant they combine this with that family vibe, which makes it very special.

www.gigglingsquid.com

Mariage Frères

38 King Street London, London, WC2E 8JS

My invitation to sample Afternoon Tea at Mariage Frères in Covent Garden was met with great interest, as my preconceived notion was that Afternoon Tea is an English phenomenon, not a French one.

Across the world the British have always been associated with tea, but its origins actually start in China as early as the 2nd Century BC. British involvement, however, started soon after, when they introduced tea production to India in an attempt to break China’s monopoly, and much of the UK’s history involves the very powerful tea companies such as The British East India Company.

Tea, in the early days, was promoted as a medicinal beverage or tonic, but by the end of the 17th century it was thought of as an all-purpose drink, even though it was still very expensive and was only sold in high class establishments. Tea is much more affordable today, but Mariage Frères still keeps that high class establishment feel with its unique shop brimming with prestige, refinement and tradition.

In fact, everything about Mariage Frères oozes class and refinement from the moment you enter. On the ground floor there is the shop, which could easily be from the 18th/19th century, with polished wooden floors and the largest tea wall in the world housing a selection of 1,000 different teas. There are tea caddies from floor to ceiling housing some of the rarest teas in the world, that are organised with the same precision and care as if they were the finest wines in the world, and indeed, in many cases, they are as special and certainly as rare.

There is a serious fascination with tea here, so in keeping with this there is also a tea museum on the 2nd floor, where you can learn more about the origins of tea, but tempted as I was, our port of call was the Salon Du Thé, on the first floor.

This Salon du Thé, again oozes sophistication, but now instead of the more austere brown wood in the shop, the décor up here is light and airy with a chequered flooring, white tables and chairs, and crisp, white table cloths. The walls are adorned with old French posters and a skylight gives lots of natural light via the balcony to the tea shop below.

We were here to sample the Afternoon Tea, and there are two options to choose from - The Parisian Afternoon Tea (£29pp) or the Covent Garden Afternoon Tea (£39pp). We selected the Covent Garden Tea which was the by far the easiest choice of the day as it involved only two options. The hardest one was what tea to have with it!

I thought I knew a few teas names, but when they brought the tea list I realised I really didn’t. Did you know there were at least 73 Darjeeling blends? Me neither. Luckily the waitress was knowledgeable, and after a few pertinent questions made suggestions as to what to have, and I selected the wonderfully named Gengis Khan. Indeed, according to legend, Gengis Khan and his warriors used to drink tea to instil in them courage and effectiveness in battle. After taking a sip I was grateful I didn’t actually feel the need to conquer Covent Garden, Ghengis Khan style, but this blend with jasmine flowers and silver tips was invigorating and wonderfully smoky all the same. My wife selected the French Afternoon Tea (the grown up of English breakfast tea!?), which was truly different as it was green (very green) and flavoured with vanilla.

It was no surprise when our Afternoon Tea’s 3-tiered platter arrived that it looked spectacular, in keeping with the rest of the restaurant. The pastries were works of art and tasted as you would expect from expert French pâtissiers.

The savoury part of the tea varies by month, but are innovative and made from the freshest of ingredients. The clever part of the entire meal is that there is an underlying tea theme running through the whole offering, with the best being the scones and jam which had a subtle flavour of tea and made me forget my usual toppings for scones, namely strawberry jam and clotted cream.

Mariage Frères offers much more than just Afternoon Tea, and provides breakfasts, sandwiches and healthy hot and cold dishes, all created with that Gallic flare, from 11am to 7pm, and if you are in the vicinity of Covent Garden take a look. You won’t be disappointed, as the French can do Afternoon Tea just as well as the English.

www.mariagefreres.com