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Five to try: British Food
Evening Standard 23.07.08
GREAT QUEEN STREET
32 Great Queen Street, WC2 (020 7242 0622) £38
There is an energy here which erases forever associations of pomposity and stodginess that might cling to the phrase British food. The chefs butcher meat on-site meaning that they can make the most out of it - from pâtés to prime cuts. Seasons and gluts dictate the menu, which changes in part twice daily. expect terse descriptions, dishes to share, discoveries like the pigeon and foie gras pasty, unmemorable décor, Duralex wine glasses, delicious puds.
CANTEEN
Crispin Place, Old Spitalfields Market, E1 (0845 686 1122) and Royal Festival Hall, SE1 (0845 686 1122) £33
When I reviewed the first Canteen, I remember writing "here is progress". The owners seemed to have understood why customers flock to reasonably priced ethnic restaurants and embraced the challenge of providing, with brio, the British equivalent. Realising that a good deal of British food appeal is tied up in breakfast dishes, bacon, egg, bubble and squeak, sausages and roast onion sandwiches, and toast and Marmite are served all day. There are also excellent pies, roasts and stews and not too many english wines.
MARK HIX OYSTER & CHOP HOUSE
36-37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross Street, EC1 (020 7017 1930) £50
It has been said that if you are not a friend of Mark's the service will be peremptory. There is no way I can put that to the test but it strikes me as a risk worth taking for dishes like beef flank and oyster pie; hanger steak with baked bone marrow; the amazing mutton chop curry; Woolley Park Farm chicken for two and the ideas leaping onto the menu in response to what is currently in its prime.
FRANKLINS
157 Lordship Lane, SE22 (020 8299 9598) and 205-209 Kennington Lane, SE11 (020 7793 8313) £38
Tim Sheehan, whose granny was a baker and his granddad a butcher, and Rodney Franklin, whose first catering experience was his mother's lesson in how to make the perfect pink gin, teamed up to open - first in Dulwich and then in Kennington - restaurants that celebrate local ingredients and reveal vivacious responses to them. Now that the weather is shaping up, note that the Kennington branch has a lovely internal courtyard. There is also a new deli, farm shop and takeaway.
QUO VADIS
26-29 Dean Street, W1 (020 7437 9585) £50
Sam and eddie Hart (Fino and Barrafina) took over this Soho landmark with the idea of bringing back the glory days of the "Grand Hotel" grill room. This laudable aim gets somewhat holed below the waterline by pasta dishes and raw fish and also a French chef who can't quite resist some nancy saucing, but a joint that has seen too many dark days is now jumping. It is almost guaranteed that when you go you'll see at least one of the Hart boys working the room.
Prices estimate a meal with wine for one.
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