Image above: My succulent Gressingham duck which was cooked to perfection and tasted divine at the Prince Bonaparte. [Sunday 07 February] | [View all photos]
One weekend in early February I ended up trying out three new restaurants on three consecutive days and sated the epicurean in me.
The weekend kicked off on Friday night with a simple Indochine meal at Monsieur M with Emily. I have never been to a restaurant with such a vibrant red interior and they operated a menu where the three mains as well as the sides and soup would change daily.
I opted for the fish choice and we shared some sides of Vietnamese spring rolls and sesame prawn toast. Overall the food was fine though with Song Que serving decent pho nearby I’d only come back if I wanted something different.
Monsieur M | 380 Old Street, Shoreditch, London, EC1V 9LT | Map | Nearest station: Old Street
On the Saturday, I took Dana to Sushi of Shiori which has been getting decent reviews online. To my surprise it isn’t a fully fledged restaurant but quite tiny with room for only 8 diners . But it meant that we got to sit at the counter and see the owner-sushi chef prepare our dinner. We found out that he was trained in Kyoto and his wife, also working there, was actually Korean but had lived in Japan for years.
The sushi we had was delightfully fresh and flavoursome as was their una don. And to wrap up our decadent dinner, some home-made matcha ice-cream complete with a tasty cracker.
Small but perfectly formed it’s a great place for authentic Japanese cuisine that’s worth the money. The only caveat is that because it’s tiny it’s probably best if there’s only two of you and do book in advance.
Sushi of Shiori | 144 Drummond Street, Off Hampstead Road, London, NW1 2PA | Map | Nearest station: Euston
On the Sunday I was at The Prince Bonaparte gastropub in Notting Hill for Andrew’s birthday lunch.
Although I enjoyed my starter of chopped razor clam drenched in a rich savoury sauce I did also look rather longingly at Winnie’s choice of Strangford Lough oysters too! And I was definitely not disappointed with the succulent Gressingham duck for my main course which was cooked to perfection. If that wasn’t enough … their lemon meringue pie was utterly heavenly. I’ll be coming back here just for that dessert … special occasion or not!
The Prince Bonaparte | 80 Chepstow Road, London, W2 5BE | Map | Nearest station: Notting Hill
All in all, a good weekend for food and catching up with friend though my poor bank balance did take a battering in the process!
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