Lunch at Burlington

Burlington Bar and Dining

I'm a big fan of Matthew Kemp. Having had a superb dinner at Balzac and a few great lunches at Burlington previously, I made the decision to head over there for lunch recently, confident that his clever, well-executed modern british menu would again prove a winner.

The problem with having high expectations though, is that there leaves a lot of room for disappointment.

It didn't take long for disappointment to set in, either, being presented with some supermarket-grade bread and butter to start with. Not cool, burlington.

Beef brisket spring roll, pancetta, truffled cauliflower puree

I'm not quite sure why I ordered this - there were more much more interesting dishes on the menu, both in terms of their menu descriptions and, I'm sure, in taste. This was fairly pedestrian and tasted pretty much exactly as you'd imagine. The cauliflower puree, however, was a real highlight, and was creamy, velvety, and exactly as I aspire to make my purees in future.

Twice cooked 'five spiced' pork belly with seared scallops & coriander

Pork belly is one dish which I can simply never go past on any menu. Furthermore, I can dig the idea of pairing seafood with meat, and this dish also featured asian flavours, which I'm striving to incorporate into my dishes more and more. This sounded like it would be excellent, and it would have been, if, you know, the people in the kitchen were up to the task. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the broth was far too overseasoned and the piece of pork, while massive (I love generosity in a dish) was overcooked and dry. I really considered sending the dish back, and only didn't because I was starving, and sending it back would have meant waiting another 20 mins.
Oh well, dessert next. You can't fuck up a chocolate tart too badly, right?

Chocolate tart, porter ice cream

It turns out, you can. The ice cream was made with a dark beer, like james squire porter or something, so had some nice malty, chocolatey notes that worked well in the dish. The tart itself, however, was let down by a soft pastry, lacking any kind of crispness that would have suggested it had been prepared recently.

Such a shame, and after this experience I think it'll take a lot of convincing for me to go back to Burlington any time soon. Given it was one of the best meals I had all of last year, I'll be sure to head to Balzac again, though if that meal is a let down then I'll have to put Matthew Kemp on my enemies list or something.

The Four in Hand

Dinner at the Four in Hand

A pub-adjoined restaurant serving excellent, delicious, uncomplicated food- I can't believe it took me this long to make my way to this restaurant. Following a great review in the Good Food Guide, I decided I had to come and check the place out, and made my booking soon afterwards.

For me, there's something extremely satisfying about having a couple of quick schooners in a familiar pub setting, then ambling over to the other side of the room for a fine dining experience.

The chef, Colin Fassnidge, has stuck to what he knows, eschewing mod-cuisine foam frippery and bullshit, and been amply rewarded with excellent reviews.

To start with, the dining room, while small, is as unpretentious and as welcoming as you'd like. Prices are on the lowish side for a two-hat venue and there's a great wine list.

Scanning the menu, I elected for the richest, most red meat-heavy options, because, frankly, I love rich food. An amuse bouche and some great bread and butter later, my meal began with this:

12 Hour Braised Beef Short Rib with Roast Marrow, Carrot and Sherry Puree

How can you go wrong here? Spectacular, meltingly soft beef rib was paired with a lovely carrot puree, onion rings and a beef marrow and parsley salad no doubt inspired by St John's Fergus Henderson. Great flavours, and perfect entree size- not stingy, but still leaving you anticipating the next course.

Braised Beef Cheek, Tongue, Potato Dauphinoise and Eggplant Puree

Another wonderful dish- the beef cheek cooked to the point of gooey unctuousness, served with fat slab of carefully prepared dauphinoise and a smoked eggplant puree that leaves me convinced that if I continue smoking I may die young, but at least I'll leave a delicious corpse. And how can you not love that presentation? Seemingly simple, but everything in its place and where it should be- just like the food here.

The 4's Chocolate 'Magnum'

Despite not being quite sure what this dessert was by its ambiguous name, I decided I needed something chocolatey to round off the meal and so ordered this. And it was great- different textures of chocolate on the plate all coming together into an awesome whole.

So then, a great meal, faultlessly prepared, a great atmosphere, and most importantly, a great time. Good work, Four in Hand, I'll be back.