London Eating--great seafood? St. John?
 

For a spring trip to London, I am planning 3 dinners. One will be at Tayyab's.

For the second, I am leaning toward St. John. I would love to read comments from those who have eaten there.

And for my third dinner, I hope to have wonderful local seafood. J. Sheekey is one place that seems to receive good reports but I am a bit leery about the fact that it appears to be part of a min-chain. What is the local opinion of this place and are there any other great seafood spots that also have a couple of non-meat offerings?

http://www.j-sheekey.co.uk/


Many thanks!!

For seafood, you might check out recent reviews for Zilli's and Livebait (the latter if you plan to be on the Southbank).

Some of my best eating experiences in London have been with the mini-chains. I've not found they have the kind of "chain" problems American chains have.

Thanks, Zeppole!

Zilli's looks to be Italian, though, and I want to concentrate on British seafood preparations..

Livebait appears to have an outpost at Convent Garden..I will do further reading!

My husband works in the seafood business and travels regularly to London. He says J. Sheekey is his favourite place to go in London for seafood, and he knows they have very good quality standards there. Although there are a few other restaurants in the group, it's not like a "chain" place at all (the menu is completely different at J. Sheekey than at the others). We've also been to Livebait but it is more of a "chain" than J. Sheeky (there are a few Livebait restaurants, with identical menus) - and we've found that Livebait is good but sometimes hit and miss - he prefers J. Sheekey to Livebait.

I think there is a Livebait in Picadilly.

My London friends constantly bemoan there is no longer any real British food in London -- although what they are nostalgic for, I'm not sure. J. Sheekey does get good notices, and I wouldn't be too put off by the mini-chain thing. I stick to non-British food in London -- but I'll be delighted to hear good reports of good food of any sort there!

OK..then it is settled! J Sheekey it will be for the seafood meal!


Thanks to both of you!!

I certainly wouldn't call JSheekey part of a "chain" -- mini or otherwise.

Sure, it is owned by a company that owns other restaurants - but the Ivy, le Caprice, Daphne's, JSheekey and the others are all totally different, long standing places that were independently owned at one time.

I have eaten at St. John; it must have been about five years ago. My aunt, who lives in London, took me there for dinner with her second husband and children.

I thought everything was delicious--not spectacular--but really good and filling. The service was great because our waiter had a really wicked sense of humour.

I remember having bone marrow and pigeon and I think kidneys. The pigeon was very good and I usually have the pigeon at Le Bec Fin--the pigeon at St. John was better.

Thin

well the ultimate British seafood is fish n chips!. If you want something a bit more upmarket (and much more spendy) try Bentleys. There's an oyster bar downstairs and a restaurant upstairs both run by the brilliant Richard Corrigan. Highly recommended.

Cholley! Bentley's looks good as well...too many options for such a short visit!!

I have no intention of leaving London without trying fish and chips. I have all of the info on another thread here. Friends just returned and had good things to report about Rack and Sole but I suspect you will say that that is poncey! (You see, I am learning the lingo!)

Thin: Oh, dear--"good and filling" does not sound like a recipe for a fabulous meal! The marrow bones are one of their famous dishes so I was planning on having those, too..maybe I could stop in for a plate at lunch and then fit in another dinner someplace else!!

Friends just returned and had good things to report about Rack and Sole but I suspect you will say that that is poncey!>>>

Nope. Not at all poncey. A personal favourite and very highly recommended.

I ate at St. John's Bread & Wine (sister restaurant to St. John's) a few years ago and it was terrific. I've not been back but that's mostly because there are too many other places to try. If you check out the menus (and prices) you'll see that B&W seems to feature smaller dishes, and I didn't find it overwhelming (and I usually eat two starters rather than a starter and a main).

I had a nice meal along similar lines a few months ago at Hereford Rd: http://www.herefordroad.org/

If I had to choose between St. John's (either location) or Hereford Rd I'd still go for St. John's. I particularly like the St. John's esthetic (or some might say the lack of it).

Another place you might consider is The Harwood Arms:

http://www.harwoodarms.com/index.htm

I haven't eaten here yet (will do so next week) but it looks quite nice.

You caught my eye again !

Just to say I haven't eaten at St John yet but it is one of my ambitions. We love Fergus Henderson's books.

Also, although, I haven't been there either, I'd choose Bentley's for seafood as it's now run by the great Richard Corrigan. J Sheekey is a trendy place - nuff said.

We dined at three of the above mentioned places a few weeks ago (trip report coming soon, hopefully). All of them, I feel, require advanced booking.

St. John was excellent as always (I can never get enough bone marrow).

Hereford Road was good as well (very small restaurant). Had excellent black pudding.

The Harwood Arms was quite good, I would consider this a true gastro-pub. We actually ate here twice (the second time was kind of last minute, because we were nearby). Ate a wonderful trotters on toast & crispy pigs ear starter, both times.

If I had to pick one of the three it would be St. John, although with more nights the next two would be chosen as well. I can also provide more details, if you like, later this evening.

Will

Yes, please, Will..I would love to read more details about St. John.

I only have 3 dinners so have to plan carefully. And I will have 3 lunches, too, but do not want to have big meals at that hour, or else we will spend most of our visit inside restaurants!!

I had never heard of Richard Corrigan before--Bentley's looks wonderful!

Hi Ekscrunchy,

Here are some additional details about our meal at St. John.
I made reservations about a month in advance (we dined on a Friday). The restaurant it self is very minimalist, think white. Service was excellent, very nice wine list (primarily French).

Now on to the meal.

Since this was our last night in London, we started with glasses of Champagne. Our wine for the evening was a Crozes Hermitage from the Rhone.

We began with the Roasted bone marrow for myself & a pollock & potato starter for my wife (L). The pollock dish was quite interesting, L liked it. Bone marrow was incredible (like Bourdain, I believe this would be my "death-row meal").

For our mains, L had a pigeon & beetroot dish (I even liked it & I am not a beet fan). I had a special, snails & sausage, they were in a type of broth, amazing mix of tastes.
Both dishes went well with our wine.

For dessert we shared an apple crumble, that met with the approval of our waiter.

So that was our St. John meal...if you like any information about Hereford Road or The Harwood Arms, I can give that.

Will

North Sea Fish and Chips was mighty good last time I visited. :)

thereyet

Will: Many thanks for the report about St. John. I will book ahead--they are on OpenTable which makes it easy! The only problem is finding something on the menu to please the travel partner!! (I am not sure if the braised squirrel or the goat's curd is going to do the trick!)

http://www.stjohnrestaurant.com/menus/



And I will check out North Sea Fish and Chips, too--thank you, Thereyet!

I think you have been convinced on J Sheekey, but if not, think of them as one of several restaurants with common owners rather than as a chain.

On several trips we stayed at a friend's flat in The Cut, just a few doors down from Livebait. We would make a reservation, then take the day flight from Boston to LHR, go to the flat, drop our bags, and just beat the post theatre crowds from the Old Vic. After a delicious dinner and a couple of drinks, we were ready for bed and up without jetlag in the morning.

Across the street, should you stay in the area, is Konditor and Cook, a bakery-cafe-whatever with pretty good light food.

I started to write that Richard Corrigan used to have the Lindsey House - then googled & found it seems he still owns that. We found our visit there quite exciting. He also has a very good book out at the moment - 'The Clatter of Forks & Spoons: Honest, Happy Food' - and I got DH it for Xmas.

Btw we had squirrel (from our local farmers' market) for the first time a few weeks ago and it was quite tasty.

CE: I CAN"T WAIT to show my partner here the squirrel suggestion! How did you prepare it and would you make it again?


(Many people do eat squirrel in the US; there is even a famous dish from the South (probably Virginia, although the Georgians claim it, too) that has squirrel as a main component... Brunswick Stew)

http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Squirrel brunswick stew



I will look out for the book, Caroline!

Ackislander; We are staying across from Barbican, at a friend's flat. I wish we had more than 3 days! And we have to take the night flight, unfortunately. I think that the day flights are fabulous--I took one not long ago to Paris and was amazed at how, by doing that, I eliminated any jet lag.. If I had my choice I would do that every time I visited Europe!!

One more question:

JSheekey opens for dinner at 5:30pm. (Bentley's opens at 6pm)

Do you think it would be possible to dine at JSheekey and make it to the Royal Court Theatre on Sloane Square in time for a 7:30pm performance? How long, more or less, would it take to walk from Sheekey to the Royal Court?




Richard Corrigan on Bentley's website:




http://www.bentleys.org/richard_corr...nd_influences/

Isn't St John more focused on offal and less 'fashionable' meat cuts, than seafood?

You can get from St Martins Lane to sloane sq in about 20-20 mins on the ube - walk to Embankment and get off at Sloane Sq.

There's no shortage of eateries in Sloane Sq (Don't ask me - I wouldn't be seen dead there!)

From Sheekey's to the Royal Court is at least a 45 min walk - and that's being brisk and knowing the way.

By tube - well check what tfl says, but you'd struggle to do it door to door in much under half an hour (Leicester Square to Sloane Square.) A cab MIGHT do it in under 20 mins - but possibly at that time if it's raining it could take as long as walking.

Surely you cook squirrel the way you'd cook rabbit?

RM, it is indeed - I believe eks is planning a seafood meal as well as visiting St John.

eks, DH made a fairly simple stew (onion, garlic, carrots, the usual) with the squirrel but it was getting late, we were hungry so only cooked it for c.0.5-1 hours, Like I said, it was tasty; but would have benefited from longer, slower cooking - maybe 1.5-2 hours ? Also we could only get 1 that time, and you really need 1 each, so it was really only a taster.

The only slightly disturbing aspect was the way it came packaged - whole and skinned, they do look rather rat-like... :-)

Sorry, I've just re-read the OP, and you're right Caroline.

All feel free to ignore my not-very-helpful comment, in that case!

Squirrel's going to be on the tough side, so stew/fricassee is the usual. And the resemblance to rats is hardly coincidental.

Since we're giving meal details, I'll tell you that I had the following at St. John's Bread & Wine:

herring roes on toast

calves liver and some sort of smoked pork thing with mashed celeriac

The fact that I wrote this down someplace is pretty scary.

blood orange jelly with sponge

P.S. Apparently Fergus H's book suggests braising it with wild mushrooms so you've got that whole 'woody' thing going on.

We thought the Rock and Sole Plaice in Covent Garden was over-rated. The food was good, but not outstanding - and the ambiance is dreadful: linoleum floors and formica tabletops.

Our favorite chipper is the North Sea Fish Restaurant on Leigh Street, a block down from King's Cross/St. Pancras. It's moderately expensive, but the halibut I ate was the best I've ever had, anywhere.

flanner, yes, you're right, same as *wild* rabbit - i.e. something with real muscles !

Thanks, R. I think the debate about the fish and chips in London might be akin to the debates here in NYC over pizza.

I don't care much about ambience so the linoleum and tile would not bother me. But I do want top quality since this will likely be my only experience with "real" fish and chips for awhile!

Ok--so let's discuss fish and chips. Where? What kind of fish is best to order?

Cod.

Although there are some concerns about overfishing, so you might prefer to order haddock.

Coley or hake might also be offered.

The best kind to order is a matter of individual taste. If the shop doesn't specify, you'll probably get cod or haddock, which are a little too 'fishy' to my palate. I therefore prefer the subtle flavor of halibut and sole, and am willing to pay the premium prices these varieties command. These fish demand more care in cooking so that the flavor of the batter doesn't overwhelm that of the fish.

In high-end shops, they maintain separate fryers for offal fish and gourmet species for this reason. Speaking of which - cooking potatoes or (argh!) onions in the same oil as the fish is a no-no which is not generally observed in the street-corner takeaway shops.

Fish and chips shops don't generally serve fried onions.

Nor are you likely to get 'gourmet' species battered.

This is excellent info! For some reason I thought plaice was a major species in the fish and chips world!

Will: I looked up the menu at Hereford Road. I would like very much to read about your dinner there, if you don't mind taking the time. Their menu might be more appealing than St. John for my partner, who is a little staid in his eating habits (they have pork belly on their menu, for example, which I know would please Mr.Fussy.)

http://www.herefordroad.org/

I forgot to add:

Here is an interesting story on two guys who make "jellies" in whimsical shapes; among their clients are Gordon Ramsey and the much-discussed-here Chef Blumenthal:



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/di...r=1&ref=dining

:

<I>RM67 on Apr 1, 09 at 12:28 PM

Fish and chips shops don't <B>generally</B> serve fried onions.</i>

But some do.

<I>Nor are you <B>likely</B> to get 'gourmet' species battered.</i>

But you can.

I have never been into a fish and chip shop that served fried onions.

Nor have I been to a chippy that batters lemon sole, sea bass, red mullet, monkfish or any other 'posh' fish.

The fact that somewhere out there there may be one or two very untypical upmarket places that do serve poncey fish battered, or some generic cafe that does fried onions, hot dogs, kebabs, fish and chips etc alonside one another (ie NOT a fish and chip shop) doesn't stop your comments from being yet another stupid and inaccurate generalisation.