Song Que review Kingsland Road Vietnamese restaurant - yes, the bun is fabulous

Address: 134 Kingsland Road,
London E2 8DY
Tel: 020 7613 3222
Nearest Tube station: Old Street / Hoxton

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £10 pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: ****
Service: ***
Ambience: **We should have been to Song Que for lunch right at the onset that afternoon but we were swayed by Timeout’s writeup so we ended up at Geffrye Museum Café instead. It turned out that the meal (if it can be called that) at Geffrye was less than satisfying and we were back to Song Que soon after.

It might be our previous experience with Song Que but I could never fathom why the Vietnamese restaurant along the northern end of Kingsland Road received such accolades from fellow food bloggers. Perhaps it was a matter of expectation and we made it a point to lower that quite a bit during our second visit.

This time round, Song Que was less crowded mainly because of the odd timing (4.30pm) but there was still this healthy buzz in the place. The mostly youthful ethnic Vietnamese male staff were busy shuttling to and fro between the kitchen and tables before taking up their positions beside the payment counter at the back of the restaurant. Efficient and prompt, Song Que runs like a well oiled machine.



Following Mr Noodles' (of Eat Noodles Love Noodles) recommendation, I went for the Vietnamese bun with stir fried beef and lemon grass (£6.10) this time round. While the cool dish was definitely more suitable for summer or the typical Vietnamese tropical weather, it was a refreshing change from the relatively heavy pho. Song Que’s bun was moist and didn’t clump together; the shredded mint leaves that came in the vermicelli added to its cool taste.

Song Que’s bun, when mixed with its slightly sweet sauce, reminded me of the “yong tau fu” I had back home, only better. Though I found the fried beef a bit tough, this is clearly a street food and really good one at that.



Wife was just glad to have a huge bowl of soup with the temperature dipping outside. That came in the form of the stewed beef pho (£6.70), which was done fabulously. The pho was so smooth that you could just slurp it through.



We still felt a bit peckish after that and topped the meal up with some spring rolls (£4.30). Unlike most, I prefer the fried version than the one made with steamed rice wrappers. Song Que’s spring rolls didn’t disappoint. It was lightly crisp with substantial filling, a tasty mouthful. If only it came with a bit of vinegar dip.

Am I a Song Que convert? Maybe. It’s really a tussle between Song Que and Cay Tre, which is further down along Old Street. While Cay Tre’s pho selection is almost non-existent, it does a mean crispy long fish. But if you are looking for a fuss free Vietnamese bite, Song Que’s the place to go.

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Drapers Arms review - Islington Barnsbury Street cosy pub

Address: 44 Barnsbury Street
London N1 1ER
Tel: 020 7619 0348
Nearest Tube station: Highbury & Islington/
Caledonian Road & Barnsbury

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £20 pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: ***
Service: ***
Ambience: ****Some believe that if you are going to move to a new area, the best way to know more about the vicinity is pay the local pub a visit. A couple did just that when we were lunching at Drapers Arms some time back. In fact, they were thinking of buying one of those terrace houses opposite Drapers Arms and decided to pop into the pub for a cuppa while waiting for their property agent. How did I know that? They literally announced it to everyone when placing their orders.



The menu were still being printed out when we turned up at Drapers Arms that day and we got it still warm a couple of minutes and some slices of bread later. The waitress informed us that they had ran out of burgers. A disappointment as I was on a quest to compare the burgers served at Islington’s pubs.



I opted for the whole plaice (£13.50) instead. It came with salsify, which was refreshing as I never had one of those before. I find the addition of brown shrimps a bit curious. The tiny shrimps added that extra bit of chewiness to the fish dish. Nice touch there.

There was a light sprinkle of sea salt on the fish and that enhanced the plaice's flavour. While the fish was clearly fresh, it was a pity that the oil was allowed to collect at the bottom and that soaked the fish from beneath.


Wife’s wild rabbit (£12.50) was really well cooked according to her. It came with mushrooms and purple sprouting broccoli. I thought that the rabbit came across as a tad tough but Wife was really happy with it so I guess that was what mattered.



By the time we finished, the Little One was wide awake and fussing but we were determined to squeeze in a cheesecake. Drapers Arms’ cheesecake looked suspiciously chocolaty and came with a dollop of cream. Not only that, it came with a lethal dose of raspberry. We didn’t taste very much of the cheese as the raspberry was simply overwhelming. I would probably skip the cheesecake the next time round.

Drapers Arms will set you at ease if you are moving to the area. The locals came in with baby strollers and buggies, and quite a few with their puppies warmly wrapped up as well. There’s a fireplace tucked in a corner with creaky old sofas set right in front of it. Shelves of old Penguin classics lined the wall around the fireplace. Sounds cosy? It is.

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Geffrye Museum Cafe review - nice ambience albeit understaffed

Address: 136 Kingsland Road
London E2 8EA
Tel: 020 7739 9893
Nearest Tube station: Hoxton

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £10 pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: **
Service: ***
Ambience: ***We were at Geffrye Museum the other day for its Christmas Past exhibition and decided to grab a late lunch at the café within the museum. There was a long queue at its entrance flanked by a serving counter and a row of toddlers’ high chairs. The people in the queue were impatient and it was apparent why; while there were some unoccupied tables, the café staff were trying their utmost to fit as many people into the café as possible by assigning tables for four to only groups of four and so on. Woe betide the groups of three. Those who eventually got in were determined to stay put as long as possible. A couple were nursing a single cup of cappuccino for over half an hour. Nothing wrong with that but it does get unbearable when you are standing in the queue.

That said, the Geffrye Museum Café has a rather pleasant view. Large panel windows mean fair amount of natural light even in the middle of winter. Surrounded by a small green enclosure, the café has got this serene feel to it, provided that you are seated right beside the windows and away from the frustrated queue of people.



It was meant to be a light bite (cake and tea perhaps) but we figured that we had to make it worth the time spent queuing. The carrot cake (£2.55) took forever to arrive. When it eventually did, it arrived together with the main courses. The carrot cake was more cream than cake. You could put an ordinary sponge cake beneath the thick layer of cream and it would taste exactly the same. It might have been done in the traditional way but it was nothing like the one that we had at the Myddeltons Deli.



Wife was quite enthusiastic about the Geffrey pie (£7.75) until it appeared at the table. It says on the menu that the pie is prepared using a Victorian recipe. Well, I’m not sure what the Victorian definition of a pie is but the one that was served had its fillings neatly placed on the outside of a star-shaped puff pastry, which was empty within. Fillings consisted of some green mash and a few chunks of meat. It reminded me of something served in a school canteen and it tasted like it as well.



My roast chicken sandwich (£3.95) was supposed to be marinated as indicated on the menu. Unless the chicken had been marinated with mayo, it wasn’t apparent. The saving grace was that it came with wholewheat bread rather than just white ones. It was a stomach filler perhaps but nothing more.

While Geffrye Museum Café is a huge improvement compared to its counterparts in other London museums, it still has a museum café feel to it. It would be perfect pit stop to rest your tired legs but I’m not sure the full meals are worth it. If you are looking for a serious bite, you are more likely to find it at the Vietnamese restaurants along Kingsland Road.

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St John Restaurant review Smithfield Market - the old smokehouse

Address: 26 St John Street
London EC1M 4AY
Tel: 020 3301 8069
Nearest Tube station: Barbican/Farringdon

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £35 pp
Service charge: NA
Taste: ***
Service: ***
Ambience: **I can't decide whether it's the psychiatric ward uniform or its total disregard of food presentation that makes St John Bar and Restaurant a unique English icon. Other than its £300 roast suckling pig that has a minimum requirement of ten guests, St John is known for its madeleines, which are made on the spot and require a minimum waiting time of fifteen minutes. One thing's for sure, you can never accuse St John as pretentious and probably for that reason alone, it will never ever be considered as part of London's fine dining scene. Not that its loyal customers ever give a hoot really.

We were at St John Bread and Wine along Commercial Street quite some time back and have always wanted to pay its flagship restaurant near Smithfield Market a visit. Interestingly, the building that St John currently occupies was a former ham and bacon smokehouse. Other than a lick of white paint, the interior has been left pretty much as it was when St John first took over the premises in 1994. The floor still is a patch of bare pockmarked concrete with unplastered brick wall all round. A skylight installed 20 foot up high dominates the main hall, which is now the bakery and bar section. The main dining area (former meat packing rooms) is a short flight of stairs up.

Lunch service ends at 3pm and it was five minutes before that when we arrived that afternoon. The host greeted us warmly and quickly led us to a table. Another staff promptly came us to us two minutes later and politely reminded us that the kitchen was about to close and whether we were ready to order.

Wife cocked her eyebrows across the table. That wasn't what we expected at all for the service staff at St John Bread and Wine was at best indifferent bordering on rude. In fact, we went to St John Bar and Restaurant fully expecting to be treated like dirt (which says tons about its food really). We felt much better trekking all the way down to Smithfield Market already.

That said, we were a bit disappointed that pigs' cheeks weren't on the menu that day but were intrigued by pheasant and trotter pie (£34) that the opposite table ordered. Though it says on the menu that the pie is to be shared by two, it can easily feed four light eaters judging by its size. Perhaps we will have that when we have company for our next visit.



Anyway, our orders arrive exactly five minutes later. Either the kitchen was almost done for the day or the cooks were anxious to call it a day. I'm fine either way so long that the dishes turned out fine. The mussels, celeriac and red onion (£7.80) was refreshing to the palate and the bit of lamb lettuce that the mussels were perched on added to that. A nice little appetizer it is.



My smoked haddock (£17.80) came with saffron and accompanied with parsnip. Unlike the salmon at Medcalf, there is no mashed potatoes to distract from the smoked haddock. Instead, three clunky slices of honeyed parsnip laid on its side. Haddock sliced away cleanly and its subtle saltiness was nicely complemented with the sweet parsnip.



Wife's middlewhite (£23.50) came with chard and white beans. The chard reminded us of the Chinese 'mei cai', which is sometimes served with chopped up pork. Naturally, we found this dish quite to our liking. Loved the middlewhite's cackling skin though the dish can be served warmer. However, I thought that this one is a bit overpriced - a similar dish ordered at St John cost just half of that earlier in the year. Surely the addition of chard can't bump up the price by that much, can it?



No meal at St John can be without the mandatory madeleines. Half a dozen still cost £3.70 as before. We made sure that we ordered this right before the end of our main courses so that they would arrive just in time. While the madeleines weren't the best looking cakes but St John's madelelines tasted exactly as I remembered them to be. Almost crusty on the exterior with a soft, moist, and slightly sweet interior. Top it up with a pot of Earl Grey and it can easily beat any scones and cream.

There was a flash of "St John Bread and Wine" service at the end of our meal when a sullen looking waitress hovered around our table and literally grabbed any empty plates at the first possible instance. We felt as if we were overstaying our welcome despite the restaurant still half filled. Then three separate tables started to chorused birthday songs one after another and all was forgotten as we joined in the applause.

St John remains my top choice for traditional English food. That said, I'm not sure whether it would be the place to dine at if you are to have only one dinner in London. While the food's quality is consistently good, its service remains hit or miss. But if you are looking for a quirky English restaurant, look no further than St John Bar and Restaurant.


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The Crown review Cloudesley Road fantastic ambience, pity the food

Address: 116 Cloudesley Road
London N1 0EB
Tel: 020 7837 7107
Nearest Tube station: Angel

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £15 pp
Service charge: NA
Taste: **
Service: **
Ambience: *****After a meal at The Albion a couple a weeks ago with a couple of friends, we were walking down Cloudesley Road towards Sainsbury when we passed by The Crown. "Now, that's a decent pub," one of them quipped.

One thing about Islington is that it is never short of pubs. The local variety, the chain pubs, those catered to families and those that'll see more action only when a match is playing, Islington has them all. On the outside, The Crown looks like one of those local pubs. Solemnly standing at the intersection between Cloudesley Road and Cloudesley Square, The Crown hardly looks like it's doing a thriving business.

However, once you step through the double wooden paneled door, it is like a whole different in there. Like many English pubs, The Crown retained its mostly wooden furnishings but it is much more than that. A fully wooden central bar dominates the main sitting area with two ornate wooden dividers separating the entire floor into two sections - an open area and a more intimate and cosy area within. As if that's not enough, there's this sinfully comfortable sofa area set right in front of the open kitchen. I could almost imagine a group of pals settling down playing a hand of poker with a pint in hand. And that was before I caught sight of the stack of boardgames sitting inconspicuously on the bar counter.

The menu itself is normal pub fare, nothing like the testicles served at The Peasant. Wife went for the haddock and chips while I opted for chargrilled beef cheese burger. Nothing exciting I know, but we were famished and pointed to the first ones that caught our eyes.



My chargrilled beef burger (£10) didn't take too long to arrive. I thought I caught a whiff of something that came across as somewhat offending. It smelt like beef gone bad. I cut a piece of the beef patty and offered it to Wife. "It might be the barbecue sauce they used," Wife reassured me. Well, the fact that I am still well enough to type this shows that the beef's fine but the sauce is certainly not. That probably explains why the waitress offered us a healthy portion of mustard as well when I requested for ketchup.

I thought that the chips were overdone and almost brittle. The tired looking salad didn't help a bit to be honest. The burger was a far cry from the one at The Albion.



The Crown's haddock and chips (£11) was no joy either. The chips, well, were as above. Salad looked a tad fresher but not much. The fish was rather bland. To make it worse, the skin underneath was cold and still had a damp fishy taste. I guess the most palatable part of the dish was the green peas.

The Crown has a fantastic ambience, there is not an iota of doubt to that. If only the food served can match up to that and its service less sullen. Wife and I left the pub feeling that our calories could have been better spent elsewhere.

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Le Mercury review Upper Street French restaurant - cosy french setting

Address: 140a Upper Street
London N1 1QY
Tel: 020 7354 4088
Nearest Tube station: Angel/Highbury & Islington

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £15 pp
Service charge: NA
Taste: ***
Service: **
Ambience: ****The obvious choice for a pre-theatre dinner before catching a play at the Almeida Theatre would be the Almeida itself, which is located right opposite the theatre. That said, theatre goers are spoilt for choice when it comes to dining options. Other than The Almeida, the little café within the theatre does hot sandwiches for a fiver upwards. And then there’s Le Mercury.

Le Mercury sits right at the junction between Almeida Street and Islington High Street. You can’t miss it. With a full glass façade and its clean layout, Le Mercury looks inviting in the daytime. When night falls, the pretty little restaurant is lit up with a soft yellow hue and becomes almost alluring.

The interesting thing is that its prices displayed on a board laid outside on the sidewalk are rather reasonable. Starters at £3.95, mains £7.95 and dessert £2.95. £15 in all for a three course meal (there is no service charge), not too bad at all.

As we walked into Le Mercury that afternoon, I couldn’t help but compare it with Le Sacre Coeur at Therberton Street, which is further up along Upper Street. While Le Sacre Coueur’s interior is somewhat quirky (there is a chair stuck onto the ceiling etc.), there is this quiet charm about Le Mercury. It could very well be any of those tiny restaurants that dot the Trocadero Metro station opposite Pont d'lena from the Eiffel Tower. Nothing fancy but you know that you are in French territory once you step through the two stiff swing doors.

The ground floor of Le Mercury is filled with small square tables arranged in a tight cosy manner. The lone waitress that afternoon glided through the floor with a quiet efficiency. "Are you ready to order?" she asked almost haughtily. I took a cursory glance at the menu and was almost glad to see English description to the French dishes. It felt almost surreal. At that moment, with the menu in my hands, it felt as if I was in a small restaurant in the middle of Paris trying in vain to remember whether poissons was actually poussin.

The waitress's quiet glare, which warmth rivaled that of the wintry weather outside, quickly shook me back to reality. We promptly placed our orders, sat back and watched the world go by through the large glass windows.



The starters arrived quite soon after. My calamars fris, cut into thin rings, came with homemade tartar sauce. The sauce itself had good consistency and a nice subtle taste to it. Dressed french leaves made the otherwise sinful dish a bit less so.



Wife's ballotine de foie gras came with apple marmalade and toast. We weren't quite taken to the duck ballotine but it was nothing that sweet apple marmalade couldn't solve. Given a choice, we probably wouldn't go for this again.



The mains appeared a couple of moments after our table was cleared. My selle d'agneau au romarin (roast saddle of lamb) came with a thick slab of mashed potatos, grilled courgettes and rosemary. While the grilled courgettes could have more flavour, the lamb, especially the slightly fatty portion, was marvelous with no small credit attributed to the garlicky mashed potatoes.



The poitrine de porc (slow roast honeyed pork belly) was sweet but only just so. The accompanying granny smith apple sauce, as always, was a delight with red meat. The pork tore away easily and its fatty skin having soaked up with honey added another dimension to the dish.



Le Mercury's mascarpone cheesecake was uninspiring. In fact, other than the strawberry syrup, which was so generously drilled over it, we couldn't taste very much of the cake itself.

Frankly, I was surprised that Le Mercury wasn't more crowded during lunchtimes. While I wouldn't go so far to say that its food was to die for, it certainly was decent for its pricing. Next time round however, I would probably do without the starters and desserts, and go for the mains only before rounding up the meal with a coffee.

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Jamie's Italian (Canary Wharf) review - strike two

photo by dainee

Address: Unit 17, 2 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf
London E14 5RB
Tel: 020 3002 5252
Nearest Tube station: Canary Wharf

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £20 pp
Service charge: NA
Taste: **
Service: ***
Ambience: ***"I love Jamie's Italian," an Italian colleague of mine who hailed from Turin declared to me just the other day. Italians have got this knack of putting their points across by forming an 'o' with their index finger and thumb and jabbing into the thin air repeatedly. She did precisely that and I thought better of recounting my earlier experience at Jamie's Italian. After all, I can't really argue with an Italian about Italian food, can I?

Wife and I decided to give Jamie's Italian another go when she happened to drop by after work. As before, there was a bit of a queue forming outside the restaurant and we were given a pager. "It'll be a forty minutes wait," the reception staff quipped nonchalantly. We decided to wait it out as we didn't really fancy braving the chilling winds again.

Five minutes later, our pager sprung into action with a violent vibration. I stared at it with disbelief. There must be a mistake, or so I thought. The same staff strode over, "Hi, we do have a table for you now. Would you like to come with me?". Brilliant. I followed her across the restaurant with a silly grin on my face.

We made our orders and took a cursory glance around. The place was packed as always. Jamie's Italian has started to take reservations for Christmas lunches and dinners but only if you have a party of at least six. Corks were being popped every couple of minutes and people were clearly enjoying themselves.

Twenty minutes later, our antipasti arrived. The crispy squid (£5.50) wasn't crispy but we have tasted worse. Instead of the normal ring shaped, the squid was cut into large triangular pieces, which were refreshing. A squeeze of the accompanying slice of lemon added some zestiness to it. Garlic mayo with specks what tasted like cinnamon completed the dish.

I ordered the buscatini carbonara (£9.95) again. This time round, I went in with my eyes opened, fully knowing what I should expect. While I appreciated the generous portion of crispy fried smoked pancetta, I am still not convinced that buscatini should be made into a carbonara dish.

The first few forkfuls of Wife's angel hair (£13.50) were satisfying. The squid ink added quite a bit of flavour to the pasta although the thin scallop slices hardly made a difference. It went downhill quite soon after for there were sizable clumps of angel hair towards the bottom of the plate and quite a number of them too. It became apparent that the angel hair was overcooked and as a result stuck together.

We beckoned to the nearest staff who promptly walked over. When shown the clumps of angel hair. She was a bit taken aback. She mumbled something under her breath and assured us that she would be back. She never did. Eventually, another staff came over to clear our plates. I pointed the same to her.

"Oh, this shouldn't be the case but it happens sometimes, especially with spaghetti and all," she replied reassuringly. Oh really? I guess I should be appeased then, shouldn't I? I thought that was a really disappointing response from a restaurant that bore the name of a respected British TV chef. Pity really, the service was fantastic up to that point.

Sorry, Jamie. I won't be back in a hurry.

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Giraffe review - Islington baby friendly restaurant

Address: 29-31 Essex Road,
London N1 2SA
Tel: 020 7359 5999
Nearest Tube station: Angel

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £15 pp
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: ***
Service: ****
Ambience: ***I never thought that I'll say this but Giraffe actually serves quite an ok breakfast. Yes, there's some hesitation in my claim for Giraffe will never have the rustic charm of S&M, the innovation of Caravan and the earthiness of Food Lab. Yet, all things considered, Giraffe is a good package. Especially for a pair of parents who can barely keep their eyes open and a fidgety little screamer.

"I miss their Giraffe's huevos rancheros," KL mentioned over email. I actually had to google to confirm that's not another flavour of nachos. I unwillingly went along while Wife was a bit more adventurous. "Come on, it can't be that bad, can it?" she quipped. I still couldn't get over the fact that Giraffe once served green curry masquerading as Malaysian laksa. But that was almost a lifetime ago so I strapped the little one on and trudged along.

There's this thing about smiling going on at Giraffe. If you have been to the branch over at Islington's Essex Road, you'll know what I mean. There's this short passage about people smiling about and smiles being contagious (like the winter bug that's going on), that sort of thing. It is almost tacky if not for the fact that the staff at Giraffe actually believe in it. There were smiles all around and there was this certain upbeat spirit - all three times we were there. It was somewhat contagious. I found myself grinning absentmindedly at the stack of pancakes placed in front of me during my last visit. The fact that a waitress said that the Little One was cute and she made her feel like having a kid as well certainly helped. Believe me, parents are suckers for this sort of thing.

Another thing that struck me was that it was almost mandatory to have a baby/toddler/kid with you during weekend breakfast. Giraffe, at least the branch at Islington, seemed like a refuge for parents with kids. As if to prove that point, there was two tall stacks of baby chair strategically placed beside the kitchen door ready for deployment at a moment's notice. Coming in with a huge buggy? No worries, the staff would be more than willing to reconfigure the seating arrangement to accommodate you. Every so often, a staff would be making rounds distributing Giraffe orange coloured helium filled balloon. Oh, did I mention the baby changing room?



Where was I again? Ah, the huevos rancheros. At £7.75, it was quite a bit. A generous slice of chorizo, black beans, cheddar cheese, avocado and tomato salsa with two free range eggs (fried or scrambled), all on a warm tortilla. Make no mistake, it was not gourmet food but the Mexican breakfast was a welcome change (and healthier for that matter) to your typical English version. Wife was full of praise for it but I suspect she was trying to make me feel guilty about my full brunch plate.



My full brunch plate (£7.75) though a bit more expensive than the S&M equivalent across the road, turned out much better and consistently so too (I have experienced varying standards at S&M). A single Cumberland sausage slightly burnt, scrambled eggs, Heinz baked beans (at least they are being honest), potato wedges, toasts and a couple rashes of bacon made up the dish. A arteriole congestion compared to the huevos rancheros. I just adore the crisp wedges and cheese infused scrambled eggs for this one.



We ordered stack of pancakes (£6.25) to share as well. It came with slices of ripen bananas sandwiched between pancakes, a handful of blueberry sprinkled on the surface and a bottle of maple syrup, the pancakes were a joy. Thotse light pancakes turned out better than those served at the adjacent Diner, which tasted almost floury.  



Giraffe's one of the few places that I actually left smiling. Like I said, it wasn't just the food, it never has been. It was really the entire package. Other than the 5 tried and tested baby friendly places in the vicinity of Angel Islington, I believe we have another winner here. The only thing lacking is perhaps a small play area for toddlers. I'm getting a bit spoilt, aren't I?

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Medcalf review Exmouth Market British restaurant - didn't quite make the mark

Address: 40 Exmouth Market,
London EC1R 4QE
Tel: 020 7833 3533
Nearest Tube station: Angel

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £20 pp
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: **
Service: ****
Ambience: ***Two things that set Medcalf apart from the restaurants and cafes along Exmouth Market. Other than its seemingly ancient façade that looks faded even when compared to Sweet (which has updated its look after my earlier visit), there was some conspicuous damage down to Medcalf’s front windows. In fact, we mistook it for an abandoned store when we first walked past it.

Apparently, Medcalf took it upon themselves to maintain the original façade of the storefront all these years and the damage was inflicted during an earlier council maintenance a couple of years back. Refusing to repair the damage, Medcalf is still trying to claim damages from the local council.

We decided to give it a go when someone we knew heavily recommended it, mentioning that the place can “easily accommodate a good size buggy”. Of course, we weren’t there solely for that – the McDonald’s along Chapel Market would be just fine for that. “It serves good food as well,” she quipped. So why not? We decided to check Medcalf out.

Medcalf was running a burger grilling booth outside the restaurant when we turned up for lunch that day and there was a short queue building up for that. Medcalf is one of those restaurants that is much larger than it looks from the outside. The seating area extends right through to the back and there is even a small outdoor sitting area (with a dartboard no less) towards the end, perfect for smokers and the summer season.

We were seated right at the back, which was just as well. Who knew when our little screamer would be awake (she eventually did and made it known to the entire restaurant). Instead of neat little pictures found on the rest of the restaurant’s walls, the restaurant’s rear seating area is adorned with building and architectural plans (no, I’m serious). The plan and side AutoCAD generated drawings would look not the slightest out of place in any architect’s office.

That said, Medcalf serves primarily British cuisine – bacon chop, Guinness braised ox cheeks, Welsh mackerel, partridge and smoked haddock etc. After some consideration, we went for the latter two.



My smoked haddock (£14.75) came with creamed leeks and crispy poached egg. I was half expecting the poached egg’s yolk to ooze forth when I cut my spoon through it. No such luck. The egg was like a half done hardboiled egg if you know what I mean. A thick slab of mildly smoked haddock was balanced on a thicker glob of mash potatoes engulfed by a small pond of creamed leeks. The cream, unfortunately, neutralised any taste the smoked haddock might have. In fact, I enjoyed the leek more than the fish.



Wife generously spared me a sizable chunk of her partridge (£15.95) knowing my lack of passion towards game meat. Something was amiss. I could perhaps take comfort that my smoked haddock turned out better than Wife’s partridge. It tasted bland even with roasted with bay leaves. She ended up polishing off the puy lentils and cavalo Nero that came with it and left much of the poor bird intact.

Looking through the menu, we might be better off ordering ox cheeks instead. But the fact remained that we left Medcalf disappointed. The saving grace? Medcalf’s staff was friendly and there was a fellow screamer in the restaurant that easily put our Little One to shame.


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