My inner history geek loves the
Globe Theatre. The plays are always
excellent, but it’s the fashioning on the original 16th century playhouse
that I like the most. They have a beautiful
new addition in the Sam Wanamaker playhouse.
It’s small and intimate, with painted ceiling and lit by candlelight. Last Thursday I saw the hilariously brilliant The Knight of the Burning Pestle – it’s on until the 30th, but do book something
else there for the theatre experience alone.
But it has to come back to the
food. We went for dinner at Elliot’s
before the play, just a five minute walk away, on the edge of Borough
Market. The menu is mainly made up of
small plates – we shared a mixture (there are a couple of large plates if you
just don’t like sharing).
The artichokes a la Grecque (£8), came prettily turned, with little pickled florets of cauliflower, soft fennel, and a tangy dressing. The Elliot’s merguez sausages were perfect with smoky grilled spring onions (£8), and the lamb onglet tender on top the cucumber and yoghurt (£8), with little fried leaves of what looked and tasted like big oregano.
I’ve just been writing about purple sprouting broccoli – this was a great version, with slices of crunchy fried bread and bagna cauda (£8), the incredibly punchy Italian dip full of garlic and anchovy. From the sides, we also tried the cavalo nero, caramelised onions and almonds (£5). All with very good sourdough bread, and a glass of orange wine (I forgot how they make it – just checked, and it’s made in the same wine as red wine, but with white grapes).
The desserts most involved lovely
sounding ice-creams (including a honeycomb affogato), but we shared the other,
a plate of the cider brandy truffles. They
were completely cocoa rich and truffly, but with the slight apple tang of the
brandy – very delicious.
So not just a restaurant
recommendation, but a whole evening sorted for you. Just book some tickets and a table.
www.elliotscafe.com/
www.elliotscafe.com/