Some honest critique stands out from Instagram’s breathless scroll of hype
Welcome back to Insta Stories, a column examining the London restaurant scene through the often-problematic medium of Instagram. This week’s filter is Michelin-worthy.
News of the week
A week in which the Champions League Final coincided with the start of the UK’s first Cricket World Cup for twenty years saw sport trickle into the domain of food Instagram for a fleeting visit. Brits abroad in Madrid, restaurants embracing national teams, restaurant critics and food writers getting involved — the carnival spirit felt genuinely spontaneous, rather than the work of bandwagon-jumping cynics. Could the happy vibes continue all the way up to a first-ever England victory in the cricket final at Lord’s? Oh, maybe not.
bittenwritten
Madrileño breakfast.
bittenwritten
We’ve got suckling pig. And Alli.
comelimewithus
Wishing the West Indies Cricket team all the success. If you get home sick and need trini food, we welcome you at Limin' . . . #westindiescricket #westindies #cricket #gameon #togetherweaspiretogetherweachieve
brigadiersldn
Breakfast is served Watch England vs Pakistan live from 10.30am today and enjoy a host of breakfast dishes including this Tandoori Steak & Indian Army Style Sappers Egg #summerofcricket #brigadierslondon #iccworldcup2019
gilescoren
Shredded roast chicken, samphire, avocado and bottarga. Invented by me, just now, in my kitchen, with the cricket on. I’m calling it “Chicken Stokesy” in honour of this knock he’s playing, as it’s shredded with a ginger top. (And like Stokes it’s actually bloody good). #cricketworldcup #comeonengland
food_writer
The UTTER JOY of winning the Champions League. The players and manager TOTALLY deserve it. Klopp is a LEGEND. (Not that I’m overexcited or anything) Regram @liverclub #lfc #liverpool #jurgenklopp #championsleague
Honest caption of the week
Instagram’s reputation as a place for wall-to-wall positivity does have at least one downside: it can sometimes be hard to discern genuine quality in the midst of so much breathless hype. So there’s something noteworthy in an influential figure using a post to call attention to imperfections as well as highlights in a meal: after all, it is only through open and honest communication like this that restaurants can learn and improve. And if, as Danny Meyer has argued, a great restaurant doesn’t distinguish itself by how few mistakes it makes but by how well it handles the ones it does make, then instances like this are also an opportunity to demonstrate professionalism and class. A win-win for Instagram users and the restaurant affected? It’ll never catch on.
londoneater
Brat, May 2019. 1.6kg Cornish turbot. I like Brat, everything here is generally good and priced well, except for one problem - the cooking of their star product is very inconsistent. I’ve been here 4 times, always for turbot, and only really had it cooked perfectly once by @isobelittle. swipe 1.6kg isn’t all that big for wild turbot and imho isn’t as difficult to cook whole as something double its weight. This was a very heathy fish, let down by the cooking, heat travelling to the middle of the bones, all but turned white and opaque, its flesh losing nearly all moisture. While it is premium gear, it is not however impervious to temperature, when it is overdone, the texture is mushy, dry, tough as a tennis ball, as opposed to gelatinous, pearlescent flakes. It negates the entire experience, because you come for product quality and grilling expertise. There’s nothing else for the fish to hide behind. We did let the restaurant know, and they did agree it was over. To the restaurant’s credit, they took the turbot off our bill. We paid for everything else of course. Generous of them and excellent service, handling our complaint professionally. I don’t think I’m the first to note the inconsistencies , and I feel that others in town are better at grilling turbot over charcoal. Their pil-pil is good even though you have to whip the emulsion yourself, if they get it right more often, they would live up to the reputation they’ve garnered for themselves. Saying this, I’d still come back here for everything else such as the aged Dexter (with sauce on the side) and lobster. @bratrestaurant #londonrestaurant #londoneats #turbot #fish #grill
Themed week of the week
Props to all involved at Max’s Sandwich Shop: this is how you commit to a bit. Although it is somewhat disappointing not to see the signature products being served on a special edition Jeffrey Goldbloomer.
lunchluncheon
CAN’T RESIST GOING EARLY: MASSIVE PR ANNOUNCEMENT: In honour of Dinosaur Week being this week, WE HAVE RENAMED EVERYTHING ON THE MENU AFTER DINOSAURS!!!!!! Apart from kimchi, which I couldn’t come up with a pun for so it’s not on the menu!!! Hahahaha @220kid HAVE YOU GOT THE BARNEY SUITS???????????????,,,
lunchluncheon
Just sayin’.....
lunchluncheon
Too Much?
Pâté en croûte of the week
Learn how to make this and other recipes like it in the forthcoming cookbook Salt, Fat, Acieed, Heat.
chefcalum
ACID HOUSE PATE EN CROUTE . . The most technically challenging thing I've done in a long time, working out how to get that smile all the way down the length of the pate took a lot of time but to see the reaction on @chefbradcarter 's face made it all worth it. #pielife #pateencroute
Gravity-defying storage solution of the week
felicitycloake
I feel like I’m going to have a lot to be proud of this year (my book, Wilf’s exemplary performance on the agility course, the amount of toast I’ve eaten) but right now it’s hard to see past my exciting new Spice Storage Solution, which has taken me all night. (Yes, they’re wonky, but that’s the decorative theme.)
Staycation of the week
Hereby proving it is possible to Reagan not just for 24 hours but a full seven days.
marthadelacey
I should do a PhD in staycations. And aioli.
marthadelacey
Gloriously punchy Malaysian chilli hit from the clever gang at @sambalshiok, now that winter is here IN MAY ❄️ The zesty, tamarindy, fishy penang asam laksa special; the wondrously squishy and perfectly seasoned fried chicken; the gloriously crunchy gado gado salad; refreshing sambal greens; some delicious new malacca prawn ssam wraps with lychee and latsachilli ️️️, and those bloody marvellous fenugreek crackers, of which that rascal @felicitycloake tried to nab a full tupperware box off a high shelf on her way out. Coconutty mango jellytastic pud for pud. Malaysia is so high up on my TO GO TO list it's practically bouncing off the page.
marthadelacey
My ideal tasting menu.
marthadelacey
I know you all hate me right now, but frankly, my dears, I'm simply having too much fun to give a tiny rat's damn #Eatcation2019
marthadelacey
Turned up at @rovi_restaurant at the correct time on the correct day of the correct week this time to sample the second half of the fragrant, fruity, charred and moreish menu, this time actually with @hollow_legs. In reverse order, because nobody puts Ottolenghi's strawberry, raspberry, custard and whisky brulee mille-feuille in the corner, and if they did I'd eat them too. Plus lamb ribs and tropea onions and minty mackerel and peachy beans and griddled cukes with peanuts and pardons with almond cream, and the second best crumpets in the world
marthadelacey
Predictably perfect lunch at the ever-lovely @lyleslondon, with Saturday sunshine streaming in through the huge windows out from bustling Shoreditch into the calm, oasis of a dining hall, featuring plump Jersey rock oysters with the most refreshing sorrel granita; the crispest, most flavoursome Keats Farm leaves and peppery nasturtiums with creamy Spenwood cheese; gloriously buttery lamb sweetbreads with a supremely moppuppable summer stew of radishes, courgettes and broad beans (cue a second plate of @anna.atthetable's srsly sexy sourdough and silky homemade butter); potted Guinea fowl and pickled artichokes on fried toast (think the best foie gras you could ever put in your mouth, with a perfectly tangy foil, plus CRUNCH); fat asparagus with crispy fried pheasant eggs and wafer-thin flecks of salty cured goose; a rich and oozy Suffolk hogget and ramson crumpet (because who doesn't bloody ruddy love a crump? ); Lyle's' famous (for a damn good reason) smoked eel with Russian kale and dulse, plus the most stolen butter knives in London, according to @eveningstandardmagazine. (Ours remained within the building's four walls, don't panic.) A glorious feast from clever @christrundle1989 and his gang, with absolutely smashing wines to match after terrific advice and a few quick tastings from the fabulous front-of-house team, which perfectly set us up for Pudding Fest 2019 from @anna.atthetable....
marthadelacey
Inaugural visit to the really very, very wonderful @perilladining, in reverse order because that gooey, crispy, crunchy peanut, salted caramel and cornflakey choolate tart was the best chocolate tart I have eaten in Some Time. I also love their Sunday menu - featuring a choice of just three starters and only one option for mains and puddings, which must be shared by the whole table - because I don't like making decisions and I like chefs to choose what I eat, because they know best. The meltingly soft rolled lamb shoulder was served in a luminous green herb oil alongside a rich, Moroccan-inspired borlotti bean, olive, parmesan and sourdough breadcrumb ragu, and a salad dressed so generously and beautifully it positively SHONE. Our beer-battered hake jowl starter with chip shop curry sauce and wispy crispy fried curry leaves was absolutely perfect, as was the buttery pork terrine, particularly since it came with a second brown paper package of housemade seaweed sourdough (truly one of my favourite things), and a second veritable mountain of velvety brown butter when we asked if we might have one. Also, scrumptious cocktails, and lovely orange and chilled red wines, plus a lunch date sick to the back teeth of my camera habits. If I ever have a restaurant I should like it to be Just Like This
marthadelacey
My favourite kind of Thai food at the family-run @singburi_e11 in Leytonstone this evening with @rangoonsisters and their beautiful families: big, punchy, authentic, colourful flavours, each dish completely unique and bursting with exciting combinations of fresh herbs and chillies and aromats, all sharp and sour and sweet and fragrant and lip-tingling and moreish, and cooked with heartfelt passion, generosity and flair. . We chose nothing from the regular menu (where you'll find your crowdpleasing pad thais, your spring rolls and your fish cakes), and absolutely everything from the daily specials blackboard, a glorious chalked collection of the even more exciting flavours of Thailand. . Goong pad bai cha plu (giant prawns in a wonderfully creamy, coconutty, Southern curry with betel leaves); gloriously refreshing and bold lamb nam tok neck fillet salad with mint, coriander, lemongrass, fish sauce, shallots, and lots of sharp lime (my favourite); moo krob crispy pork belly with chilli and garlic (crack crackling, on crack, essentially); the most fabulous chicken liver curry that all five of us went completely cuckoo over; a beautifully balanced mangosteen salad with prawn floss; an enormous bubbling cauldron of shellfish soup, all gingery and lemongrassy and packed with fat mussels and prawns the size of my upper thigh (post-staycation, too); chopped, dry-fried rabbit, a chopped quail and rocket jungle curry, a cold noodle salad in a spicy fish sauce; five rounds of lovely silky durian ice cream for the grown-ups and one busy little paw . I've been meaning to visit Singburi for SUCH an age; it is completely brilliant. I certainly won't leave it another 36 years before my next visit.
marthadelacey
Drawing Eatcation 2019 to a sad close at one of my favourite places, with London's finest chicken wings (coated in a Thai fish sauce caramel CRUNCH), the ultimate egg fried rice (because they swap out the egg for fat chunks of squishy lardo), asparagus with chilli and a crispy pig fat fried egg, and the spiciest, earthiest lamb larb, BECAUSE YOU MUST ALWAYS GET THE SMOKING GOAT LARB ️ And for pudding I fell off my bike on the way home, flat into the road, fat and happy, elbow first, thoroughly smushing up my arm, because I was still dreaming of that bloody lardo fried rice and because my stupid flappy trousers got caught in the spokes, and some kindly strangers had to help me up and sit with me at a bus stop and run and buy me a bag of ice from the shop Still, I've learned a valuable lesson from back in 2011, when I got hit by a car and broke my fall with my teeth So, swings and roundabouts.
Incongruous geotag of the week
Fans of chef and vermouth enthusiast Anthony Demetre have started to descend on [checks notes] the Sofitel St James, as he revives his much-loved Wild Honey in the hotel’s dining room.
ruthspivey_
Booya-baisse is back (featuring a healthy dose of croutons, punchy rouille and a ladle having the time of its life). . . #wine #food #london #newopening #wildhoney #hotel #stjames #history #mayfair
civilianjournal
Anthony Demetre’s beloved restaurant Wild Honey is back! I was so thrilled to be invited to a preview lunch @wildhoneystjames today - to sample what @anthony_demetre and his team are about to launch @sofitellondon. This is lush, heavy food ... the macaroni cacio e pepe comes with rich super-chickeny crisped chicken wing, and the rabbit dish is butter on butter. Great stuff. Can’t wait to go back. Now for a nap ... #wildhoneystjames #newlondonrestaurants #londonhotels #bestrestaurantslondon #londonfood #london
alpana.deshmukh
Invitation to a preview lunch at the soon to open @wildhoneystjames, the new venture by @anthony_demetre. Working with the team, I’ve had the immense privilege of seeing this new place come together. Congratulations to all, it’s grand More on Stories #client
juliendavain
#best #canele ever @wildhoneystjames done by @anthony_demetre #softopening #comingsoon #london #food #lessismore
Dish of the week
Elaborate plating: a defence.
pfranco_e5
Polenta, Crab & Nasturtium. Kitchen Open 6pm. Walk-ins Only.
Shot of the week
Elaborate plating: a rebuttal.
watermelonchang
First of the Dover Sole this year beautifully executed by @shaunsearley. #chappettsbirthday #sundayfunday #sundayroast