Return of the blog!

After many moons, the lunch blog is set to return! Since last time, the travels across the worlds have finally taken us back to London’s food scene.
Soon, there will be a new launch with a new design but with same focus: giving the most honest lunch reviews at the best tube stops.
Stay tuned for more updates, surprises and lunch reviews…

Thanks to all our readers, we’re delighted to be back (soon)

Lunchpower reviews: La Petite Maison

Tags

bond street, french cuisine, la petite maison, lamb cutlets, lunchpower reviews, meditereannen, potatoes dauphinoise, restaurant review, reviews

Restaurant: La Petite Maison

Where:  54 Brook’s Mews, London W1K 4EG

Not on the tube map: Additional review (closest tube: Bond street)

Cuisine: French

Price: ££££    £30 per head for a main

French cuisine is famous the world over for its richness, its subtleties and combination of flavours that leave you wanting more. Any French worth its mettle commands high expectations and dining at La Petite Maison was no exception.

Growing up on the coast, I’ve always been spoilt for great sea food and so it’s often with trepidation that I order seafood in a city that’s not near the coast. But emboldened by the restaurant’s fresh smells (that hit you as you enter through curtained door), I decided on a crab and lobster salad, marinated salmon with pink peppercorns, sirloin carpaccio, prawns in olive oil and finally deep fried courgette flowers (all to share of course!)

The marinated salmon was exquisite and the flavors were distinct but not overpowering. The texture was unreal, almost like cutting through air. Similarly, the sirloin carpaccio was strong and intense in flavor and light as a feather.
However, the prawns were a bit on the bland side and the olive oil chosen had almost no taste. The deep fried courgette severely lacked salt and while some were perfectly crunchy, others did not quite reach the mark. A thing to note – especially if you’re planning on coming here in a large group – is that the appetizers arrive as they’re ready as opposed to all at the same time.

The mains consisted of steak and lamb. The steak had a beautiful caramelisation on the outside and tender inside, but again, this reviewer found it a tad under-seasoned.

The lamb cutlets were cooked to medium rare as requested, fairly tender but lacked a bit of juice to make it perfect . The aubergine was minimal and didn’t add to the flavor.

Our sides consisted of green beans, steamed broccoli and potatoes dauphinoise. The veggies were fine but the potatoes were divine – but when it comes to anything that matches cream with potato, it’s hard to go wrong!

There was no time for dessert as we were pushed away for another group. This ultimately brings down the grade as restaurants should have their booking system under control so that the customers in the restaurant never feel rushed along.

La petite maison is a great restaurant which has lots to offer but it has a few kinks to work out like seasoning and timing. Read our review of another french restaurant, Plateau, to see how they compare.

Grade 7/10

Lunchpower reviews: Story Deli

Restaurant: Story Deli

Where: 3 Redchurch St, City of London, E2 7DJ

Not on the tube map: Additional review (but closest tube is Shoreditch High Street Overground)

Cuisine: Italian

Price: ££    £16-£30 per head

Just because Martin and I decided to eat at all of the best restaurants on Cheese and Biscuit’s tube map, doesn’t mean that we don’t want to try other places – and we’d love to take recommendations from you. The ultimate goal of this blog is to build up a rich compendia of London eateries by tube stop and we’re using the the Cheese and Biscuits Map as an excellent starting point. While we’ve yet to review the slick, trendy and excellent operation that is Pizza East for Shoreditch High Street(coming in week of April 15th), Rozzy recently frequented another renowned pizzeria in the surrounding area – Story Deli.

Story Deli has already existed in two other East London locations and now sits hidden just beyond the top of Brick Lane. Without a booking system, they usually have a queue out the door but on our Thursday night visit, things were actualy pretty quiet.

The décor consists of some shared wooden tables, replete with cutlery, condiments and water bottles. The idea being that the tables are communal and everyone sits where they can. But the vibe of a relaxed, shared space doesn’t pervade the rest of this establishment because the food is overpriced and the atmosphere is lacking.

For a start – and maybe this was just the night I visited – but there was no music. The place was silent as a morgue and dinner conversations were hushed. When I got out for dinner I like to laugh and trade stories, hear about recent experiences, ENJOY MYSELF. Here we felt we could barely speak and the mood was not convivial. It would have been more fun eating pizza secretly in a local library.

Secondly, some of our party were late but rather than being able to idle over some yummy starters or bread or just get stuck into a bottle of wine, pizza is the only dish on the menu and the wine list is limited to one red and one white at a fairly high price point of £27. Don’t get me wrong – I have no problem paying £27 for a bottle of wine, provided it’s of reasonable quality and provided I can choose to pay that price.

Being limited to only spend £27 on a bottle of wine,  because it’s the only choice on the menu, does not enthuse me to get involved. I ordered a tiny, very average tasting glass of red. Then, not wishing to rack up my mid-week dinner bill, opted for an overpriced cup of tea at £2.

Forgetting the drinks, what of the pizza? Surely you don’t build up a good reputation for if you’re serving an inferior product? Nothing could be further from the truth. The pizzas came in at a startling £16 a pop and while there were a 13 different options to choose from, each choice netted the same result: The dough too thin,  too crispy and  broke easily under the weight of all the toppings that were slushed on top. Each pizza was like an oil slick of pesto and cheese, the dough nothing more than an leaky rowing boat, drowning underneath.

I know it seems like a first world problem to complain about too much topping, but in the case of Story Deli’s overpriced pizzas, the toppings completely overwhelm the base

Unlike the sublime experience at Franco Manca where the pizzas were almost absurdly cheap for the care, finesse and amount of deliciousness they pack in (and where the bottles of wine were much more reasonably priced at £18 a go), Story Deli seemed to be taking us for the proverbial pizza ride. Overpriced, over-flavoured and in a space crying out for more convivality and atmosphere, I won’t be frequenting this place again at least until they put starters on the menu and extend the choice of drinks.

Rating: 4/10

Lunchpower reviews: Franco Manca

Restaurant: Franco Manca

Where:  4 Market Row London SW9 8LD

Tube stop: Brixton (Victoria Line)

Cuisine: Italian

Price: £    £6-£20 per head

Ever since all the fashionable eateries in the fashionably refurbished Brixton Market were fashionably installed, the noise heard above all else was to try the pizza at Franco Manca. However, every time I ventured to the markets, something else came up (by the name of ‘roast chicken’ or ‘delicious savoury crepes’ or ‘heading straight to the pub’). Either that or the queue seemed way too long for the amount of hunger I was feeling. However, on a recent super freezing night in March, the conditions were right for frequenting this London-famed pizza joint.

Firstly, due to the arctic conditions, NO-ONE was out. Brixton Market was a deserted quiet zone where only the brave and well rugged were venturing. Secondly, I’d been eating pizza in various guises all weekend so felt primped and primed to make some good comparisons. And boy, the hype of Franco Manca seriously lived up – this is pizza worth queuing for.

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and at Franco Manca, a fantastic rustic simplicity pervades everything. From the paired back décor to the plain water glasses, the sourdough here that is the real star of the show. Risen over a twenty hour period, it has just the right amount of crispy/chewy ration, a heavenly smell and a delicious, distinctive wholemeal flavour. And – unlike my recent unsuccessful pizza forage to Story Deli in Shoreditch– Franco Manca lets the dough speak for itself. The topping are simple – you only have a choice of six plus the daily ‘meat special’ and ‘vege special’ – and they are applied with a light touch so you can definitely taste their presence, but they never overwhelm the dough.

Combining this simplicity with super speedy service (the pizzas seem to arrive almost before you order them and if you are queuing, they’ll take your order before you sit down), this is not a place for lingering lovingly over the perfect dough. Rather, come and fill up on the quality, delicious and expertly assembled ingredients before heading off into the night. This is one of the best cheap eats in town and – queue be damned – I’ll definitely be visiting again soon!

Editors note: So popular is Franco Manca that they have expanded into lunch and dinner and now have locations in Brixton, Northcote, Stratford Westfield and Chiswick.

Rating: 9/10

LunchPower reviews:Rum and Sugar

Tags

billingsgate, british cuisine, canary wharf, cheap lunch, docklands, express lunch, gourmet food, kiwi, lunch, lunch report, lunch review, lunchpower, powerlunch, rum, rum and sugar, spitalfields, steak sandwich, sugar, swede

Restaurant: Rum & Sugar

Where: West India Quay, next to Museum of London Docklands

Tube stop: Not on the tube map (additional review)

Cuisine: Modern British

Price: ££ £12-£15 (With a daily lunch special of £10 including drink). An express lunch means your food arrives in 15 minutes.

Rum & Sugar is not only the new kid on the block in Canary Wharf, it’s an undiscovered lunch gem. Subscribing to the local ‘foraged’ food movement, all food is locally sourced – meat from Spitalfields, fish from Billingsgate market and freshly assembled onsite. As manager Paul Williams proudly points out, the only thing frozen here is the delicious, homemade ice-cream.

The restaurant name comes from the setting in a rustic 1800s rum warehouse. But 200 years later, it’s thirsty bankers, as opposed to the bards of the sea who are here to be fed and watered, and Rum and Sugar offers quality food and a huge range of cocktails, rums and drinks for the thirstier amongst us..

In fact, we were blown away by the quality of the food – starting with fresh breads, hummus and olive oil, the starting plate was seasoned to perfection. Martin then went and boldly ordered the steak sandwich and my god! Not only was this a hearty and generous serving of meat, it came with chips, a dressed salad and a hefty dose of order envy from across the table (I had a salad).

All of the food was outstanding, but then when you have such fresh produce and a Michelin-starred chef at the helm, is that really a surprise? I mean these guys have even catered for The Queen.  This is gourmet food at pub prices.

Extra info: Rum and Sugar feature a range of events throughout the week – Rum tastings on Tuesday, live music on Wednesdays, a DJ on Thursdays and Fridays and happy hour throughout the week. Here’s more info.

Following our review, we have since been back to R&S a few times and we’ve been disappointed in underseasoned and undercooked food which means the score has dropped considerably.

Score: 6.5/10

http://www.rumandsugar.co.uk/

Book a table here