Ordinary Food

Cafe du Marche, London EC1M

http://www.cafedumarche.co.uk/

Times are increasingly tough for French restaurants. What with ever more exotic cuisines popping up on every street corner, it can be difficult for the palate to revert to sole meuniere after a Thai gaeng lueng or Malaysian ikan gulai. But there is still a faithful following for well executed French food, as demonstrated by the packed dinning room at Cafe du Marche.

I first visited this Smithfield institution with my family eighteen years ago. Since then the restaurant has changed hands just once. The place now feels more like an emporium with its three dining rooms, each with different menus. We ate at the “café” which is actually the most "restaurant" of the three and according to the management offers an “a la carte” dining experience despite being prix fixe. Next door is the rendezvous wine bar, whilst upstairs the Genier focuses on grilled foods and frites.

The place has a smug, conspiratorial vibe, with French staff dishing out upmarket French grub to grateful middle class punters keen for a taste of real France. The “handwritten” menu features French classics mixed with modern takes. Unusually, the management has adopted the commendable policy of charging 2.8 times cost for all bottles on the predominately French wine list. We settled for the “superior” (as opposed to “ordinaire”) house wine, priced at £14.95 a bottle. The white - a Viognier, was pleasant and not overtly flowery, whilst the red - a Grenache Shiraz blend was merely adequate.

Familiarity can breed contempt with French cuisine - the most one can usually hope for is charm and refinement rather than excitement. Cafe du Marche's fayre certainly doesn't pack any punches - father's soupe de poisson, blitzed and tomatoey and served with croutons, gruyere and rouille was acceptable but not dissimilar to the stuff available from French hypermarche in big jars. Brother's white bean and grilled mackerel starter was more of a success. My starter of chicken liver and poached egg was plain odd, sitting on a soggy piece of rye bread coated with a fibrous slimy green paste which didn't taste or look good. Father and brother shared a medium rare cote de boeuf (£6 supplement), delivered with a decent sauce Bernaise, fresh green salad and a saucepan full of oddly dusty and not particularly flavoursome potatoes, tomatoes and button mushrooms au Provencal.

A straight forward apricot tart and two rather small slices of nutty chocolate cake rounded off the meal. On the basis of the acceptable but unadventurous grub served to us, I fear Cafe du Marche might be resting on its laurels. The restaurant claims on its website that "it’s a mystery" why they do not feature in the Good Food guide. I suspect it might have something to do with the lack of innovation - there is nothing wrong with churning out French classics, but at £30 a head for the three course set menu, plus supplements for many dishes this is not sufficient. Our bill came to £173 including three bottles of house wine, some mineral water and coffee and a hefty £22 service charge.

At this price level, competent execution goes without saying; precision and innovation are the order of the day. Unfortunately Cafe du Marche doesn't manage either.

Pizza! Pizza!

Have you ever looked at the fat content of most pizzas in supermarkets? Many pizzas weigh in at over 100 grams of fat which is outrageous! Thinking about it, there’s no reason for pizza to be so fatty - its constituent ingredients - flour, yeast and tomatoes and whatever topping with the exception of cheese are not fatty. Thankfully, Pizza Express pizzas, available in most supermarkets are reasonably low fat, and taste good too. They are a tad more expensive than supermarket own-brands at £3.50 for a small pizza and £4.85 for a large one. I’m a big fan of the Americano…

Livebait, London WC2

Livebait, 21 Wellington Street, WC2.

Armed with a £15 discount voucher from http://sante.com I popped into Livebait, next door to the Lyceum theatre with my good chum Andrew for a spot of lunch last Saturday. Livebait sports a bar complete with a mini-fish menu, and a large restaurant behind.

We proceeded to the restaurant under a sign welcoming us to the best fish restaurant in Covent Garden and took one of the American diner style booths flanking both sides, complete with banquettes. The dining room is a pleasant enough but somewhat drab place- the myriad of off green shades and smeared mirrors didn’t help. Nor did the less than sparkling white and green tiled walls, reminiscent of an unhygienic East London fishmongers. At least Livebait’s dining room saved us from the usual mix of drift wood, nets and nautical memorabilia.

Anyway, on to the fish. I stuck with the set menu offering 2 courses for £14.50 and 3 for £18.50, settling on Louisiana fish cakes and ‘classic’ fish and chips with tartare sauce. Andrew chose moules mariniere and grilled king prawns with a garlic and herb butter. We promptly were offered a choice of breads. We stuck with wholemeal which was fresh with the right amount of chewiness and crust to be enjoyed with oysters et al. Not that we had any, but a point worth making in case you chose to!

The £14 bottle of South African Chenin Blanc was perfectly pleasant - crisp and clean which is my preference with all things fishy so one can focus on the business at hand- and arrived with an unprompted ice bucket. The starters were acceptable - the fish cakes were small but filling crabby varieties served with tartare sauce rather than its close French relative, the promised remoulade detailed in the menu. Either way, neither would have added a great deal to the dish given the tasty dill and egg potato salad mound next door. The little pile of leaves on top of the potato salad had seen better days but were edible. Andrew’s moules were moist and flavoursome, with an intense, relatively grit free jus. I would have liked some parsley added to the mix, but that’s just a personal preference.

Unfortunately we had to wait a while for our main courses, giving us time to contemplate the existence of the empty bar at the front of the restaurant. At least it gave customers the option of indulging in cocktails with their fish if they so chose I suppose.

The mains eventually arrived, Andrew’s prawns in a regimented line with a the garlic butter dipping sauce and the battered cod sitting on top of crisp, well cooked chips with a little dish of more tartare sauce balanced on the side. I can report the prawns were reasonably juicy and the dip pleasant enough, but at £14.75 should have arrived with a salad (we ordered a rocket and parmesan one- which was disappointingly small with shavings that clearly had been done a while ago). The fried cod was more batter than fish, and could have been chunkier and less greasy. I would have felt someone miffed if I had shelled out £14.50 for this dish from the main menu.

Our total bill, including a bottle of mineral water, a £1 cover charge each and a £7 service charge came in at £62- in my view somewhat stiff given the mediocre ambience and so-so food. The £15 voucher helped matters somewhat, bringing the quality of food more into line with the asking price and just meriting Livebait a cautious recommendation.

By the way, they do a express lunch where you can have mussels and chips or the aforementioned fish and chips plus a small glass of wine for £7.50 which is a bit of a bargain.

Loch Fyne, Various Locations

http://www.lochfyne.com/

Loch Fyne has 25 restaurants across the UK, and a sister company, Loch Fyne oysters who supply much of the seafood. Their restaurants all carry the same menu, viewable on their website.

I have visited their Guildford, Reading, Portsmouth and Covent Garden restaurants and am pleased to report decent cooking across the board, other than one travesty of a meal last Christmas, where the seabass was undercooked, the wine corked and the service lousy.

As is often the case with ‘chain’ restaurants and indeed fish in general, at Loch Fyne the simplest things are the most well prepared dishes on the menu, with the added advantage of being more economical than the more complex options. For example the seabass with salsa verde at £12.95 or the poached smoked haddock with mash, spinach, peas and wholegrain mustard sauce at under a tenner are winners, the meagre portion of scallops and king prawns at £15 less so. Smoked salmon in various forms is a safe bet. Moules, either served mariniere-style (traditional french with onion, white wine and parsley) or thai style are usually juicy and plentiful, at a very reasonable £5 for a starter of £9 for a larger main dish. Oysters at £8 for six or £14 for a dozen are of good quality.

Pleasingly, the Guildford restaurant was able to respond to my request for a red wine and shallot vinagarette to accompany oysters but annoyingly served it in a jug with a neck so narrow the shallots wouldn’t come out. The sizeable mixed salad at £2.75 often comes with fine green beans and is big enough to share. Bread is plentiful, but for my palate too airy and soft for shellfish.

To drink, I usually stick with the muscadet, around £13 a bottle which is fresh, stone dry and possessing a slight acidic edge which complements the fish. I should make particular mention of the Portsmouth branch at Gunwharf Quay which has very friendly service and the added advantage of offering draught lager - great news for moule lovers!

Baltic, SE1

http://www.balticrestaurant.co.uk/

I first visited Baltic on opening a few years back. The cool, grey austerity that greeted me was a world away from Daquise, London’s longest established Polish restaurant. The emphasis was firmly on sleekness and modernity rather than communist block, with polished concrete floors and perfectly rendered white walls. Uncared for, such spaces can quickly deteriorate with scuffs and the like, but not Baltic. The place still had the cool crispness I remember when it opened.

Andrew and I arrived for an early dinner as we were off to the theatre afterwards. We both stuck to Baltic’s pre-theatre menu at £11.50 for two courses, or £13.50 for three. Our table was immaculately laid out with crisp white linen. A beetroot and horseradish relish and a little saucer of pickled vegetables also featured. Service was attentive throughout.

We chose vodka-infused gravadlax with potato latkes and a lamb sausage with bulgar wheat from the set menu and greedily ordered a third starter from the main menu of blinis - a speciality- with Smoked Salmon, Marinated Herring, Keta Caviar, Aubergine Mousse, and Sour Cream (£7.50). All three starters were excellent - in particular the latkes - crisp and hot against the salmon. The smoked salmon accompanying the blinis was plentiful and exceptional in quality, slightly thicker cut than usual.

We both chose the same main course from the set menu - cabbage stuffed with veal. This arrived with more bulgar wheat - unfortunate given it featured heavily in one starter, but it was an accomplished dish, the cabbage rolls light but flavoursome contrasting the coarseness of the wheat and richness of the red wine sauce.

We had an acceptable organic bottle of South African Syrah/Cabernet blend at £18 and a bottle of mineral water, leading to a final bill of £58 - reasonable given the location and excellent service and quality of cooking. Strongly recommended.

The Cat Head Inn, Somerset

http://www.thecatheadinn.co.uk/

The Cat can be found in the little village of Chiselborough and I’m pleased to report it is a great place to stop for a break from the tedium that is the A303. Andrew and I stumbled across the place by accident, sent there by a pub landlord in neighbouring Chinnock who was all booked out for Sunday lunch. Judging by the wall of awards next to the bar, this particular cat is loved, and we can see why.

The place achieves a refreshingly simple take on the gastro-pub phenomenon, offering a choice of five starters, mains and puds. Pricing is simple - £8 for one course, rising to £14 for three. The pub’s interior is fresh and bright, with exposed sandstone and simple wooden tables and chairs. I should also mention a fine, deceptively large pub garden with terraces and lawns.

With a hunger pang and a hangover to resolve we ordered - calamari for Andrew, bacon and liver salad for me, and roast sirloin beef times two for our mains. Warm ciabbata and french baguette arrived and was promptly devoured. The two starters both featured their name sakes on beds of lightly dressed, well prepared leaves and chopped peppers and cucumber. Given the price and freshness of the food and the bargain pricing, it is churlish to mention that the calamari wore an overly thick, spongy batter and the liver was overcooked, while the diced pepper and cucumber was difficult to eat.

The roast beef arrived with a good, homemade gravy, Yorkshire pud and a big bowl of fresh vegetables and was most definitely superior to the microwaved Sunday lunch offerings from most pubs. The damage was £27 for this tasty grub including a G&T and a pint. We left refreshed, our hangovers sedated and our stomachs pleasantly full!

I will definitely be stopping at the Cat next time I head down to the West Country.

Grilled Haloumi with Chilli

This is a great nibble or starter dish. I often serve it at dinner parties, or as part of a ‘meze’.

Ingredients:

1 lump of haloumi (available in most supermarkets- it comes in a vacuum pack)
1 or 2 red chillis
A lemon
Olive oil

Take a red chilli or two depending on size, finely chop and place in a small bowl or glass. Add a slug of olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice and leave to marinate. Within twenty minutes or so chilli will become brighter- almost flouresent, and take on a milder flavour, loosing some of its kick.

When ready to serve, take the lump of haloumi cheese and slice thinly. Place on a foil-covered grill pan and grill for a few minutes on each side, turning carefully half way through. Often haloumi can spit in the grill- if so, you may need to lower the grill pan.

When coloured lightly on both sides, place the pieces of cheese on a decent sized plate and drizzle the chilli dressing over. I find this nibble goes particularly well with champagne or white wine and makes a great stand by dish as the haloumi lasts for months in the fridge.

The Volunteer, Abinger Hammer

Water Lane, Abinger Hammer, Surrey

My friends Chris and Kai proposed we meet at the Volunteer for a pint and dinner. I have never been to this particular pub before, and boy is it difficult to find! Eventually I found the place.

As you can see from the picture it is a pretty pub. There is a garden above the pub’s car park, but there were no spare tables so we found a table on a strip of grass between the other side of the car park and a stream and decided on a fish pie (£10), a steak, ale and mushroom pie (£10) and a sirloin steak (£14).

The food arrived promptly on square plates. Yes you read right - square plates in an English pub. The food didn’t look especially promising either. My steak and ale pie was served dissected, with a piece of pastry sitting on top, like a nouvelle cuisine garnish. A more accurate description would have been steak and ale casserole served with a pastry hat. A few new potatoes featured on one corner of the plate, a few wisps of cabbage and what looked like raw celery pieces by another. Surprisingly, it tasted rather good. The celery as suspected was raw.

On a trip to the bar for another pint, I discovered the chef was Swedish which may explain this odd marriage of ingredients. The meat was tender in a rich sauce, and despite what looked like a small serving, was filling. The fish pie was similarly presented and well made. Like the two pies, the steak really could have done with some more vegetables but was cooked as requested. Sauces provided were of the sachet variety and no french mustard was available - unforgiveable at these prices.

We shared two summer puds for dessert. They arrived suitably minimalist - sat in the middle of a large plate with a few surrounding flecks of sauce. The puddings tasted somewhat neutered - I like a summer pudding to taste fresh and vibrant - these tasted of a pack of frozen berries, which while not unpleasant didn’t quite hit the mark.

What to make of the Volunteer? It is with a heavy heart that I give this place a cautious recommendation, which has as much to do with the dearth of decent country pubs in Surrey as it does the merits of this establishment.

Yummy Olives at a Reasonable Price!

Karyatis Kalamata Olives, which I buy from Sainsburys are delicious. Here’s why- they are stone in, they come in extra virgin olive oil and are seasoned with sea salt and oregano. The bottle looks like this (sorry for it being empty but they never last long!) and once you’ve eaten all the olives the oregano infused oil is fantastic for dipping with bread, or adding depth to a pasta dish or for tapenade- take a look at my recipe for speedy tapenade. By the way, Kalamata is a town in Greece- I once went there- it is not the most exciting of places as it suffered from an earthquake at the turn of the century and has since been rebuilt, but their olives are reputed to be the best in the world.

Pizza Express, Various Locations

Pizza Express had a bit of a wobble a few years ago when their pizzas suddenly shrunk. I must add the word apparently because I can’t quite remember them changing in size and I don’t want to be subject to a libel suite.

Either way, I’m pleased to report that currently their pizzas are certainly big enough to fill my 6ft 5in frame. I usually go to my local Pizza Express in Guildford, which is light and airy, with funky black spot lights and cheerful art work. Like all their restaurants, the kitchen is on display, so if the mood takes, you can watch the chefs making pizzas.

For starters, avoid the bland arancini (little balls of risotto) and stick to the salads or bruschetta. Everyone has their favourite pizzas so I won’t make recommendations here, beyond discouraging ones using roasted vegetables - they taste odd - and big upping those with a sprinkling of rocket, which always tastes so summery, peppery and decadent.

A word of caution- the pizza bases are not old school Italian- they edge towards their American deep-pan cousins with their slight thickness, but I would still describe them as thin-crust, and they are delicious anyhow.

I’m not a huge fan of deserts generally, but enjoy their Sicilian Lemon Sorbet with a splash of limoncello liqueur. This treat isn’t cheap at over a fiver but is delicious and low fat!

Pizza Express’s wine list is varied and interesting, but a little pricey- my advice is to stick with the house wine for both red and white- it is perfectly drinkable at under £12. If you are feeling flush, go for the text-book primitivo at £15, packing a fruity but refined punch which is perfect for pizzas. One of the joys of chain restaurants is that they usually have the same menu and pricing in all their restaurants, including their ‘flagships’.

One of Pizza Express’s finest restaurants is on Bankside SE1, near Southwark Bridge. Pick the right table in the evening and you’ll be rewarded with stunning sunset views across the river, not dissimilar to those enjoyed by those dining at the Pont de la Tour. Not a bad deal considering you’d be hard pushed to spend much more than £25 on a three course meal including wine.