After mild neglect in a busy
November, I’m just sneaking this post in.
Before December 1st and Christmas taking over, my top three
list of Thai barbecue, new favourite Bar Termini and one of the ugliest but
nicest root vegetables.
Smoking Goat & Som Saa - Thai
in London is looking up, with two new places bringing smoke and spice with
barbecue/charcoal. Smoking Goat on
Denmark Street is a pretty tiny room, most seats a little crammed around the
bar, and a small yet perfectly formed menu, coming from their barbecue at the
back.
At dinner earlier this week we started with a salad of crispy pork belly with cool chunks of pickled watermelon (£6) and coal roast scallops with red nam yum (£3.50 each), followed by smoked lamb ribs and slow roast duck legs (£15), all served with Som Tam (crunchy green papaya salad) and sticky rice. It’s a bit squashed, hot and smoky when crammed full, but great food (I was expecting a little more chilli though, with all we tried really mild). There’s also Som Saa winter residency at Climpson’s Arch, their charcoal frills and wood fired ovens bringing a North/North-East Thai menu (wider than at Smoking Goat, and also open for brunch at the weekend). It’s on my list of places to visit, but hoping to add to Smoking Goat and Janetira as London Thai favourites.
At dinner earlier this week we started with a salad of crispy pork belly with cool chunks of pickled watermelon (£6) and coal roast scallops with red nam yum (£3.50 each), followed by smoked lamb ribs and slow roast duck legs (£15), all served with Som Tam (crunchy green papaya salad) and sticky rice. It’s a bit squashed, hot and smoky when crammed full, but great food (I was expecting a little more chilli though, with all we tried really mild). There’s also Som Saa winter residency at Climpson’s Arch, their charcoal frills and wood fired ovens bringing a North/North-East Thai menu (wider than at Smoking Goat, and also open for brunch at the weekend). It’s on my list of places to visit, but hoping to add to Smoking Goat and Janetira as London Thai favourites.
Bar Termini – Tony Conigliaro is
behind two of my favourite bars (69 Colebrooke Row and The Zetter Townhouse). His new Bar Termini on Old Compton Street brings
more of the smart white jacket uniforms and exquisite drinks, in the way of the
nicest kind of plush Italian cafe. They serve coffee in the day (there will be
a menu of cured meats, cheeses, sandwiches etc), with cocktails from 11am. Do try the Marsala Martini, with a
home-pickled almond at the bottom of the glass.
Celeriac – Cold weather means root
veg. My favourite is the gnarly celeriac,
faintly celery like, fantastic raw or cooked.
If raw, for a lighter version of remoulade, cut into match-sticks with
apple, dressed in lemon juice and hazelnut oil (pairing with nuts brings out
soft nuttiness of the vegetable), maybe a handful of fresh parsley or mint too.
Cooked, it’s great in a creamy, garlic rich gratin, or mashed with lots of
butter. I love it roasted, either as a
potato alternative, or mixed into hearty salad of nutty grains (farro works
particularly well) with other vegetables and a good spoon of wholegrain
mustard.