Tramontana: The Latest Offering from Brindisa

Before I go any further I should confess that I am a devoted follower of the Brindisa empire.  And it is now an empire.  What started as a small shop, a stall (selling the best chorizo rolls) and a tapas bar at Borough Market now extends throughout London. Shopping in Soho.  There's a Brindisa.  Milling around before going to the Natural History Museum. There's a Brindisa.  And now, heading for a shuggle in Shoreditch.  There's a Brindisa.  Well, more accurately, there's a Tramontana (Brindisa).

This latest offering from the pre-eminent importer and provider of Spanish cuisine in London is a little different though.  It is aware of its surroundings.  It is definitely a Shoreditch restaurant.  While there are the traditional cured meats and croquetas that you would expect from any Brindisa restaurant, there is also a slider (de rigeur for any self-respecting new opening in London these days). It is also more modern, less cosy.  A place to go for a quick bite to eat and some sherry before heading out.

We arrived around nine on a Friday night having been unimpressed with the look of the food at the Shoreditch Butchery.  A quick sherry (the list is reasonable if not as interesting as that offered at Pizarro and Jose) and some olives later we were being sat at one of the high tables - sharing with a four.

As is to be expected the dishes came as and when ready - first up some croquetas and lomito iberica.  The lomito was all in order, the croquetas were fine although a little wet for me.  Not a patch on Jose's version in my view - although in fairness the Fashionista preferred these.

Next up some Iberico pork with sweet potato puree and pomegranate seeds.  Separately they were fine, better together.  Pomegranate and pork is a great combination.  We also had some Mojama - dry cured tuna -  my favourite dish of the night.

Then the the slider made of black pudding and butifarra (a pork sausage from Catalan) - tasty, but the black pudding overpowered the butifarra-  and the fideua de sepia. Like paella, but made with noodles, it came with cuttlefish, prawns and aioli.  Unfortunately it hadn't been seasoned at all and was therefore rather plain.  Once we had added some salt, it improved.

We finished with some mahon cheese which came with quince and some sweet chutney.

Tramontana has been receiving mixed reviews- some love it, others think that Brindisa may have at last lost its way.  My experience was mixed.  The tuna was incredible, the fideua bland.  I suppose the all important question though is would I go back.  Unequivocally, yes.  There is a real gap in the market in Shoreditch for good food at reasonable prices. Tramontana fits in well.

  

Olives: like 'em or love 'em

Olives, olives, olives.  Along with cheese (by which I mean the Mont D'Ors and aged Stiltons of this world), they are one of the great definers of taste in Britain.  A simple, "no, I think I will pass on the olives" will often be met with a gasp, or worse, a knowing, smug, "oh I didn't use to like them either - I think it's something you pick up with age". But it needn't be so. They need not be the haven for the self-proclaimed "taste" conscious.  I am convinced that separating this wonderful, miniature fruit from references to long hot days holidaying in Tuscany would break the social stigma surrounding them.

Perhaps it is because I love them so. Perhaps they just got lucky.  But I was invited recently to an event organised by Taste of Spain - an organisation single-handedly trying to break down the norms surrounding olives, and, in particular, Spanish olives - the world's largest producer (who knew? not me).  Sat with the wonderfully friendly Big Spud and London Foodaholic, we were to be shown dishes by Omar Allibhoy, formerly of El Bulli, now owner of Tapas Revolution at Westfield, all of which incorporated olives.

A classic starter of sardines, olives, artichoke and radicchio went down a treat - fresh and full of flavour.

Next up was some Spanish tortilla and chicken thighs, cooked again with green olives.  The dish was simple - chicken fried then braised in a sauce of stock and sherry.  The olives worked okay here, although I think I would have added them a little earlier to soften them up and impart more flavour.

On to my favourite of the night, sea bass, piquillo peppers and olives.  This is something I will need to try at home before long.

Finally, after a feast of green olives we finished with a round of black olives in the strangest of places - truffles.  As with sea salt and chilies, the olives worked wonders with the rich, dark chocolate, a real treat.

Thanks to Storm Communications and Taste of Spain for a great evening - olives, already de rigueur for any sunny afternoon, will now need to be incorporated even further into my daily diet.

Vinoteca: simple food, very well done

Given the nature of London's Square Mile, you would think that you would be spoilt for choice when it came to choosing a restaurant. How hard can it be to run a small place serving simple dishes at reasonable prices?  Soho can do it. If anyone from Paris ever again dares to query whether it is possible to get great food in London, just send them for a walk along Frith Street and such illusions will be banished within minutes.  Surely then the grand old City, with its bankers and lawyers a plenty, should be able to serve up food beyond our wildest dreams.  And it does.  There are some exceptional restaurants in the City (Hawksmoor for one is tremendous) - but all of this comes somewhat at a price.
And so, casting our net a little wider we ended up in Smithfields (home of my favourite London caf(e) - Beppes).  We thought about Smith of Smithfields, but having had a meat overload the night before at (for the first time) a very disappointing Gauchos, we were looking for something a little lighter.  So we headed to Vinoteca, the first of the three eateries (there are now outposts in Marleybone and Soho) started by Brett Woonton, Charlie Young and Elena Ares. 

The menu is made up of a few smaller bites, and some Mediterranean style rustic starters and mains.  We shared some sprats (small fish, in this case smoked and served cold with horseradish cream) and some Jabugo Peregrina.  The sprats didn't receive unanimous approval, but I enjoyed them.  The Jabugo was a mixture of chorizo and cured meats - all quite nice but not a patch on the Manuel Maldonado meats at Jose and Pizarro.  Someone else had the pigeon breast with potato and truffled shallots - this was delicious, the perfectly cooked, slightly gamey, meat worked wonderfully with sweet shallots.

Slow-cooked rabbit with cannelloni beans

For main, I had the slow cooked rabbit with cannelloni beans, kale and aioli - the rabbit melted and the beans were soft and juicy, the kale provided the much needed greenery.  Others had the bavette steak with roast garlic and shallott butter and chips (seemed to be a favourite), and the cod with fregola (a type of pasta from Sicily, small balls a little larger than couscous), samphire, fennel and salsa verde.  The chargrilled cod was a little overdone in the mouthful I tried, but other than that it was a really well thought out dish.

Cod with fregola and samphire

Two courses in and we were all happily full with delicious food.  With no need for desert, we headed off to a place round the corner for Sierra Nevada pale ale on tap - nice to find, but not at five sixty a pint.  Anyway, back to Vinoteca, great food, reasonable prices and within five minutes walk from St. Pauls - there should be no excuse for anyone ever to go to a Corney and Barrow again!

Laxeiro: a great find for a spot of brunch

LJC was down the other weekend from Scotland and we had to find somewhere nearby for brunch. I had been to Market Cafe and L'eau a la Bouche a lot recently (both very good)  and had been disappointed by Campania and the offering at Hurwundeki. I was starting to think I was out of options nearby. Then I remembered Laxeiro - a small Spanish eatery nestled next to Campania on Columbia Road.

We were there for brunch.  There isn't much in the way of choice - a Spanish breakfast of chorizo, toast and fried eggs, or small selection of ciabattas.  I was convinced that the Spanish breakfast would be a mistake so went for a salami ciabatta - the others were less cautious.  Hands up, I was wrong.  While the ciabatta was simple and nice and on any other day would have been perfectly fine, the breakfast was outstanding.  Simple fried eggs with rich, runny yolks, matched perfectly with the powerful, smokey chorizo.  Plain white toast (sometimes its just what is needed) to dunk in a mixture of paprika oil leaking from the sausage combined with silky yolks.  Heavenly.

I have not been to Laxeiro for dinner but the menu looked good and the reviews are strong.  What Spanish cooking should be about.  Simple dishes, strong ingredients, bold flavours.  I would recommend Laxeiro's take on sausage, eggs and toast. Give the pretentious Campania a miss and settle down to a hearty breakfast at Laxeiro instead.

Pizarro: my new favourite restaurant?

I have now been to Pizarro three times in as many weeks, I fear that at this rate I may be judged to be addicted.  This episode started just before New Year when, having failed to get into Jose, Jose Pizarro's sister restaurant also on Bermondsey Street, we decided to try our luck at Pizarro.  I then returned on New Year's Eve for a full-blown feast.  Finally I went again the other weekend for a friend's birthday after the wait at Brindisa turned out to be over an hour.

While the food at Brindisa is always good, that on offer at Pizarro has to date has been even better - every dish has been exceptional.  The first visit we shared all of the starters as tapas between the three of us, the croquettes (more on them later) and the squash and pomegrante salad were the stand out plates.

On New Year's eve, the Fashionista and I went to town.  We started with a couple of glasses of cava and were expertly guided through the options by the excellent somellier.  His favourite was not normally served by the glass but in order to allow us to try, he opened a bottle especially.  We shared a plate of the Manuel Maldonado jamon iberico with the cava - this is expensive stuff at £20 a plate but it delivers on every level.  Sweet, salty, almost treacly flavours linger long after you have finished.

I then moved onto the sherry list - which showcases an exceptional array of Spain's best (there's a choice of nineteen)- the Fashionista tried a rose cava - again expertly guided by our sommelier.

We then had the croquettes - little bombs of gooey, rich, delicious potato and cheese.  These are absolutely incredible - I now doubt I will ever be satisfied with a croquette again in any other restaurant.

Not satisfied with two starters between us, we then shared some beef tartar with a soft yolk egg on top - well seasoned tender beef with deliciously rich yolk.

I had a main course of sea bass, morcilla (Spanish black pudding), piquillo peppers and mash.  Crispy skinned sea bass with earthy morcilla and sweet but tart peppers- I had tapas version of this dish at Jose but Pizarro's larger version did not disappoint.

The Fashionista had the bacalao (salt cod), she was suitably impressed.

We normally finish with cheese but the desserts looked too interesting to pass up on - we went for the toast, a nutella style ice cream, vanilla ice cream and sea salt.  Not your normal dessert but it worked wonderfully - the sea salt and nutella paste together were a treat!

Everything we ate that night was incredible.  Brindisa was very good, Jose delicious, but with Pizarro, Jose Pizarro has truly arrived.  A chic but comfortable space, incredible service and course after course of delicious food.  I cannot recommend Pizarro enough.

P.S. On a later visit, four of us shared a whole leg of lamb for the Ginger Weegie's birthday.  Around 2 kg of lamb was served up in a wonderful broth with garlic roast potatoes and chicory salad - the perfect dish for a celebration!

Brixton Village: Tapas Dining at Seven at Brixton, Casa Morita and French and Grace

As I have been saying for a while now, the most happening place for new restaurants in London has to be Brixton Village (and Brixton Market Row, accross the street). It all started two and a bit years ago - with long term residents such as Cornercopia and Etta's Seafood - but in the last few months has gone stellar with places like Kao Sarn and Honest Burger getting rave reviews.

And so with a free Friday night ahead of us the Fashionista and I decided to head round some of the new offerings to see if they match up with some of the more established places.

First to Seven At Brixton in Brixton Market Row (across the road from Brixton Village proper). We got to this place around 7 and it was already jumping. Given that this was the official opening night (it had been open for a soft opening the weekend before) the turn out was incredible. Specialising in pintxos and booze this was my kind of place. We went for the skewers of chorizo and cheese and olives anchovies and padron peppers and a bocadillo of goats cheese and fig. The skewers were okay, the bocadillo nice.  But this place really comes into its own when its booze you're after -  great vibe and awesome mojitos for a fiver!

We then moved next door to Casa Morita. They were fully booked (it was not long ago that the idea of a fully booked restaurant in Brixton Village was a pipe dream -how times have changed!. No matter we propped ourselves up on a couple of chairs. I had modela negra beer and we shared a taco carnitas and a taco de chorizo. The welcome you will get here is second to none and the food is delicious - highly recommended!

The Fashionista hadn't been tempted by the beers at Casa Morita so she decided to get a caipirinha from the Brazilian place across the market (super friendly bar man - such a shame that restaurant didn't seem to be getting any trade). Really good caipirinha and nice that Casa Morita were more than happy for us to drink another place's caiparinha while tucking into their tasty tacos.

We then wandered next door to Brixton Village proper to see what else we could find- it was rammed. Places like Honest Burger had queues of 20 long. But we found French and Grace (of the Salad Club) who do take away and settled on a chorizo wrap and a lamb merguez (a sausage traditionally from north Africa) wrap- we asked for haloumi but unfortunately after a few minutes they realised they didn't have any left- no matter, they refunded the difference. I enjoyed my lamb merguez one but the Fashionista thought her chorizo wrap pretty average - both could have done with being warmer, maybe just down to the constant rush that night -  I will have to give them another shot and report back.

My verdict -  Seven At Brixton, a great bar with reasonable snacks to soak up the booze; Casa Morita, all round brilliance - tasty food, nice drinks, brilliant staff and atmosphere; French and Grace - almost very good but not quite.  If you've never been to Brixton Village and you like your food, you need to get on it, there is something for everyone!

P.S. Sorry for the quality of photos on this one, left my camera at home and my old school i phone 3GS was just not up to scratch!