Local Area News
Nov 2024River Cafe - Thames Wharf, W6
This Anglo-Italian culinary treasure has become a firm favourite with the chic inhabitants of Chelsea but it still maintains an unpretentious bias towards garden fresh produce. Professional and knowledgable service make dining in its riverside herb garden a rare pleasure. Here, customers get to see and smell exactly what is going into their food. Freshness and flavour are known to be the watchwords of the River Cafe.
Artisan olive oils, aged balsamic vinegar and a futuristic looking wood burning stove are the basic template from which the dishes take their inspiration. Italian classics such as risotto, veal, squid and sea bass, all benefit from this measured approach. The River Cafe ethos has been taken to the masses via one J. Oliver esq. Check out an old clip on YouTube where Jamie gets his first glimpse of stardom as he pays his dues in the River Cafe kitchen.
www.rivercafe.co.uk
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Big Easy - Maiden Lane, WC2
The communal dining experience is alive and well in the capital. Long tables, big portions and live blues have been shipped across the Atlantic in order to give an enthusiastic public a taste of New Orleans high livin' and low inhibitions. BBQ, lobster, giant shrimp and steak all feature heavily on the menu and can be ordered in a variety of styles and combinations. Of course, Big Easy are by no means the first outfit to combine meat and fire in London; neither will they be the last.
What they do bring to this converted power station in Covent Garden, is hardware: lots of it. Glowing BBQ pits, huge upright smokers and a massive lobster tank are all visible as you are shown to your seat. There is plenty of stateside expertise on the premises as well. Even the wood for the ovens is imported. The St Louis ribs are a must-try. It's a common misconception that meat should fall off the bone in order to be delicious. These ribs stay firm, succulent and delicious, southern-style.
www.bigeasy.co.uk
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Harwood Arms - Fulham
With the Ledbury's Brett Graham and the Pot Kiln's Mike Robinson at the helm, diners can expect a menu that rejects pretentiousness and embraces the gutsy cooking of top-class seasonal ingredients. The Harwood Arms is fortuitously positioned in an area that is half smart London and half sloaney Home Counties. This allows it to retain an informal gastropub feel while still cooking to the highest standards.
The Maldon rock oysters are plump, fresh and good value. T-bone of fallow deer is a rich and gamey alternative to some of the overpriced steaks that some restaurants are pedalling. Shoulder of lamb, braised in a broth of pearl barley is simply spectacular. There are no chocolate desserts. Why? Well the answer is the reason why you should eat there in the first place which is: "we can't grow cocoa in the UK". Now that's dedication!
www.harwoodarms.com
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