Review: Roast, Borough Market

Touch the roast side

Roast in Borough Market had been on the “to eat at” list for several years, but one thing or the other had made it unfeasible.  My first thought when we entered the hall was relief.  We were finally going to have some respite from the madness of Borough Market.  I had been in a surly mood as we meandered through the tourists. I almost expected to look over at the river and spy a cruise ship forcing its way up the Thames.  Lawrence Keogh’s Roast was the lunchtime sanctuary we required. 

We got off to a rocky start when we were shown to our seats and we requested a view overlooking the market by the window instead.  The Maître d’ seemed unable to comprehend and I pointed to the four vacant tables.  She explained that those tables were reserved for groups of four.  I pointed out there was a table laid for two. Her reply was that it was reserved for “guests”.  Incredulous and slightly appalled we took our seats, resolving to not let the first impressions destroy the rest of the meal.

It is undeniable that the elegant Roast dining hall is impressive with its high ceilings, oversized windows, white washed walls and classic auburn wood tones.  Never mind the views across bustling Borough Market.  As it was a glorious day, sunlight bounced off the opaque walls adding to the conservatory feel of the room.

The service at the beginning of the meal was very attentive, perhaps a little over done. Our cocktails were slow to arrive and yet our waiter approached us several times to ask us if we were ready to order.  This was despite us stating we were waiting for our aperitifs. The service throughout the meal never really synched with our leisurely lunch tempo, except at the end when it dropped off altogether.

For starters, I chose the game and juniper scotch eggs (£8.00) and Keith picked the Dorset Crab with Berkswell Cheese (£14.00).  My egg had a thick, coarse meaty layer followed by a golden crisp outer shell. They were tremendously good.  The accompanying chutney was too Branston pickle and sweet. I ended up leaving most of it.  

Keith’s Dorset crab had a creamy texture. The natural sweetness of the crab was still very much present.  It was well seasoned and the cheese accompanied the crab rather than overwhelmed it.

For the main I chose the slow-braised pig’s cheeks with parsnip mash and butcher’s sauce (£19.50) and Keith selected the buttermilk fried rabbit with Worcestershire apple salad and devilled sauce (£22.00). My pig’s cheeks were tender and soft.  They were a joy to eat and the serving was a decent portion.  The sauce was average, nothing to speak about at length.  Unfortunately, the parsnip puree was impressive visually, but that’s where it ended. It was quite dense and textureless.  I opted instead to eat our side orders; grilled field mushrooms with garlic butter (£5.50) and Roast potatoes in Britannia beef dripping (£4.50).  We sent both back to the kitchen.  First the mushroom were stone cold. When they came back piping hot with the garlic butter they were amazing. The roast potatoes were both uncooked and solid.  Immensely disappointing and I’m very unforgiving when it comes to wronged potatoes of any cooked variety. When they returned from what we assumed was the abyss of a deep fat fryer, they were super. Crisp.  Golden.   Fluffy.  Everything you expect in a roast potato.

 Keith’s rabbit deserves a drum roll, because it has been a long time since I have walked away from a meal thinking, “I can’t get you out of my mind”. The rabbit was succulent and had a full flavour. The buttermilk batter was light and crispy.  Plus there was plenty of it, but I still strangely sensed some resistance from Keith to share (ignore our vows why don’t you Keith).

The generous portions for mains (and none of the tasters we had in Borough Market) meant that we were bursting at the seams by the end of the meal.  For the sake of the blog we forced ourselves to eat a rather delicious Apple, blackberry and almond crumble with a dollop of ice cream.  We enjoyed the sharpness of the stewed autumnal fruit, coupled with the buttery, crunchy almond topping.  Lovely.

Roast was good but not without its fault.  The meal cost circa £120 and that was with a Top Table deal (£40 voucher which we paid £20 for), so yes it is quite expensive.  The service was patchier than a quilt cover. By the end of the meal I had imagined that our waiter had been sucked into Borough Market through a kitchen vent and ingested by the tourists. He was nowhere to be seen. Our advice; rock up with a tupper ware, put a foreign accent on and ask for two helpings of the rabbit.  The temporary embarrassment will be worth it. 

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Review: Brightwell Vineyard Tasting Evening at Artisan & Vine

Blue moon, keep shining bright-well Blue moon, keep on shining bright

For a number of years we have kept a keen eye on English wines. We had first encountered an English sparkling wine three years ago at Aubergine in Kensington, as it was served as their House Champagne, and we fell in love with the light refreshing flavour.

In recent months we have been eager to learn more and researched English wine tastings.  Artisan and Vine in Clapham happened to be hosting and promoting a series of English vineyard nights over the coming months. As North Londoners with full time jobs, a mid-week trek to Clapham in South London was daunting, but we can confirm it was well worth the schlep.  The evening that we chose was dedicated to Brightwell Vineyards in Oxford, who own fourteen acres of land and produce thirty thousand bottles per year.

We began the evening with a sparkling Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs).  We were immediately surprised by the unexpected light, but acidic flavour. Very quickly we realised we had to adjust our expectations. The sparking wine had a hint of green apples and vanilla, but very dry.  There were nibbles of focaccia and green olives laid out on the table, but in the home we would have paired this with shellfish, perhaps oysters.  

I have to say we were on an excellent table of wine lovers; a couple who own a pub and another who were in year two of owning a vineyard.  We were set for a great night.

The starter consisted of golden beetroot and goat's curd, sprinkled with pine-nuts, served with a perfectly chilled glass of the Crispin.  In our opinion, this was probably the best of all the courses as every aspect clicked.  The Crispin is similar to an easy drinking Pinot Grigio.  It is made partly from Reichensteiner (no, it's not a heavy metal band) which is a hybrid of a number of grapes developed form Reisling.  Despite its acidity there was a softness to this wine with the salad.  Golden beetroot is having a revival at the moment and it brought an appealing sweet freshness to the dish, whilst the curd and pine nuts cut through the acid to balance the entire course.

The fish course was squid served with fregola and blood orange, paired with a 2009 Oxford Flint.  The Oxford Flint is a hybrid of Huxelrebe and Chardonnay grapes and is described by Brightwell as being in the style of a Loire Valley wine. It has also won the International Wine & Spirit Competition Bronze Medal 2010 and the Decanter Bronze 2007.  The marinated squid and sweet, but tangy blood orange were excellent with the crisp dry Oxford Flint.  The meatiness of the squid was perfect with the Chardonnay elements of the wine.  We also loved the scattered bean-like fregola, which added another dimension to the dish. Our only complaints was that the squid was slightly too tough.  Overall there was a lovely melange of flavours, well matched to the Oxford Flint.

Brightwell's red wine is the Oxford Regatta, which was accompanying Suffolk salt-march lamb, spiny artichoke and sorrel.  I think it is best to talk about the wine first as it sets the scene for the rest of the course.  The Oxford Regatta was likened to a Pinot Noir. The aroma of the red wine on the nose was slightly mildewy and of course it had a knock on effect on our palate.  There was a bitter foxiness which lingered unpleasantly.  We were having a laugh on our table and concluded that we needed more alcohol, so after a democratic vote bought another bottle of wine.   We chose a Bajondillo which was superb (c.£20).  On the the nose was a beautiful waft of caramel and it tasted buttery, fruity and was simply delicious.  Yes, we had been naughty, but as you can imagine, like a giant magnifying glass this held up every flaw in the Oxford Regatta.  It was obvious the grapes in the Regatta had not seen enough sunshine to impart body into the wine.  The Regatta had been soaked in oak for seven months in an attempt to beef out the wine, but there is an unfortunate obvious question;  Why bother struggling through a bottle of English red wine, when there are obvious other great wines in the world. Up until now, the chef had done a great job in creating the perfect dishes with the wines.  I think he must have struggled here.  Lamb was probably the lightest meat the chef could have prepared, but probably the most ideal pairing should have been a meaty white fish.  He had also opted for light seasoning maybe in an attempt to not strangle the wine.  There were to many compromises made in the food. I am not going to comment further on this dish, as I do not blame the chef for falling down at this hurdle.  A carpenter is only as good as his tools.

For dessert we had the Oxford Rosé, served with white chocolate and fennel seed panna cotta, and poached rhubarb.   The rosé had a beautiful bubble gum colour.  It had a lively, subtle berry finish, again with the light acidic edge which was becoming a recogniseable trait of the English wines.  It immediately conjured images of strawberry desserts at summer barbecues. The rich white chocolate panna cotta dessert with its soft peak texture was very enjoyable. The liquorice fennel was very subtle.  Fennel appears to be en vogue at the moment, especially in desserts.  It worked well with the chocolate and fleshy, juicy rhubarb. 

We had an entertaining, interesting and fun-filled evening courtesy of Artisan and Vine.  We believe that the series of wine events they have undertaken is very ambitious and we commend them for their efforts.  Four courses with wine pairings and an aperitif for £29.95 was a bargain, but each glass was only half full.  I would rather have had a full glass with each course and paid £50.  Fifty millilitres was not enough to see us through the course and the wait to the next dish.  Artisan and Vine is one of those wine bars you wish was in your neighbourhood.  It is refreshingly elegant, adventurous, with an excellent wine list and fun.  If we could steal it and move it to North London, we would in a flash.

Find out more about Artisan & Vine's Best of English Meet the Winemaker Series

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